LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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FRENCHWOMAN'S IMPRESSIONS 
OF AMERICA 



BY 
COMTESSE MADELEINE DEBRYAS 

AND 

JACQUELINE DEBRYAS 




>f^^^ 



NEW YORK 

THE CENTURY CO. 

.1920 



Copyright, 1920, by 
The Centuey Co. 



Published, April, 1920 



JL'N -I 1920 
e)r'A570l93 



^/ 



INTRODUCTION 

Les impressions de voyage en Amerique, que 
publient aujourd'hui " deux soeurs frangaises,'' 
meritent I'accueil chaleureux qui les attend : car ces 
impressions se sont formees et developpees dans un 
tenaee et courageux effort au service de la France. 

Quand la Comtesse Madeleine de Bryas et sa 
soeur Jacqueline sont parties en 1918 pour les 
Etats-Unis, elles repondaient h I'appel du Comite 
Americain pour la France devastee, a la tete duquel 
Miss Anne Morgan et Mrs. Dyke ont tant fait pour 
nos pays d^truits. II s'agissait, par un temoignage 
frangais, de solliciter de nouveaux concours et de 
reunir de nouveaux moyens. 

Les deux voyageuses se sont brillamment acquit- 
tees de leur noble tache. Mais, k peine arrivees k 
Washington, elles en ont, k ma demande, accepte 
une autre, qu'elles ont remplie avec un egal succes. 

C'etait riieure du troisieme ^' Emprunt de la 
Liberte." Tout le pays americain, pour ce grand 
effort financier, avait ete mobilise. Les Allies, 
pour qui les Etats-Unis travaillaient en meme temps 
que pour eux-memes, apportaient a la campagne la 
cooperation de leurs representants. 

Un d^tachement de chasseurs h pied, medailles et 

V 



Introduction 



chevronnes, appele par moi a New-York, avait 
ouvert le feu parmi les acclamations. Tous les 
soirs, mes collaborateurs et moi, ainsi que nos col- 
legues allies, nous prenions la parole, sous la presi- 
dence de nos amis americains, dans les clubs, les 
eglises, les theatres, les usines. 

D'accord avec mon ami, George Creel, President 
du Comite d'lnformation Publique, je demandai 
aux " deux soeurs frangaises " de mettre au service 
de la grande cause leur grace et leur devouement. 
Deux jours apres, elles partaient pour une tournee, 
d'abord consacree a Femprunt, ensuite etendue a 
I'oeuvre immense d'education populaire, qui a ete 
une des sources de la victoire. 

Six mois durant, elles ont parcouru les Etats- 
Unis, faisant plus de 200 Conferences aux quatre 
coins de FUnion, parlant le jour, parlant le soir, 
sautant d'un train dans un autre, resistant en 
souriant a Fepreuve physique et morale d'un sur- 
menage dont demeurait 6tonne le peuple le plus 
resistant du monde, et recueillant — ce chiff re vaut 
mieux que tous les eloges — pour plus de 5 millions 
de souscriptions. 

La Comtesse Madeleine de Bryas etait Forateur 
de la " troupe,'' dont sa soeur 6tait le directeur. 
Parlant Fanglais aussi facilement que le frangais a 
son arrivee — et, au depart, elle le disait du molns, 
plus facilement — riche des souvenirs rapportes par 
elle des regions martyres, elle excellait, par un 

vi 



Introduction 



simple recit, a saisir les auditoires les plus divers et 
qui mieux est, a les convaincre. 

Un soir, dans une usine du Middle Westj tous les 
ouvriers — plusieurs milliers — voulurent defiler 
devant elle et lui serrer les mains : beaucoup pleu- 
raient. L'un d'eux lui dit : " Mon fils est en 
France. Maintenant que je vous ai entendue, je 
suis content qu'il y soit." 

Jamais meilleure action — non point de propa- 
gande, ce mot est liaissable, — mais d'information et 
de sympatliie fran^aises n'a ete, pendant la guerre, 
exercee aux Etats-Unis. Pendant pres de deux an- 
nees, mon personnel a prononce plus de 15,000 
discours en anglais, pour montrer aux Americains 
la vraie France et la situer a sa place dans la grande 
bataille. Nous sommes fiers d'avoir compte parmi 
nous ces deux charmantes " volontaires " si gaies h 
la besogne et si efficient. 

Le recit de leur voyage est alerte et franc, comme 
elles-memes. II n'y manque que la constatation des 
resultats obtenus et qui leur font grand lionneur. 
J'ai plaisir h reparer Toubli, qu'a voulu leur mo- 
destie, et k leur exprimer mon affectueuse recon- 
naissance. 

Andre Tardieu 

Haut commissaire des affaires de guerre 
\ franco-americaine. 

Delegue frangais a la conference de la 
paix. 



Vll 



INTRODUCTION 

The impressions received by " two French sis- 
ters " while travelling in America, and now pub- 
lished, will certainly meet with the warm welcome 
that they deserve, for they are the impressions 
formed and matured while engaged in strenuous 
work for the cause of France. 

When the Comtesse Madeleine de Bryas and her 
sister Jacqueline went to the United States in 1918, 
it was in response to the request of the " American 
Committee for Devastated France,'' at the head of 
which Miss Anne Morgan and Mrs. Dyke have ac- 
complished so much for our destroyed districts. 
It was deemed appropriate at the time that some 
French witness of conditions in such districts 
should solicit further help and means of continuing 
the work. 

Brilliantly, indeed, did they discharge their 
splendid task. Also, almost immediately after 
their arrival in Washington at my request they 
agreed to undertake additional work, in which they 
acquitted themselves equally successfully. 

This happened at the time of the third " Liberty 
Loan." For this huge financial effort the whole of 
the United States had been called to action. The 

ix 



Introduction 



Allies, for whom America was working at the same 
time that she was working for herself, eagerly en- 
listed the services of all their representatives for 
the campaign. 

A detachment of the famous " Chasseurs k pied/^ 
with their medals and chevrons, sent for by me, 
opened fire in New York amid frantic cheering. 
Every evening, my collaborators and I, together 
with colleagues among our allies, spoke at meetings 
held by our American friends in clubs, churches, 
theaters, and factories. 

It was agreed with my friend George Creel, Presi- 
dent of the Committee on Public Information, that 
I should ask the "two French sisters " to place their 
grace and their devotedness at the service of the 
great cause. Two days later they set out on a lec- 
turing tour, in the first place to speak for the loan, 
and then continued as a means of carrying out the 
huge work of popular education, which proved to be 
one of the sources of victory. 

For six months they travelled from one end of the 
United States to the other, giving more than two 
hundred lectures, speaking both during the day and 
the evening, and to do this they had to dash from 
one train to another, but they smilingly bore up 
bravely against all fatigue both physical and men- 
tal, against overwork and strain great enough to 
astonish even the Americans, who are known to be 
the hardest workers in the world, and gathering in 

X 



Introduction 



for the cause — and the figure is the most eloquent 
of praises — more than five million francs in sub- 
scriptions. 

The Comtesse Madeleine de Bryas was the 
speaker, while her sister acted as her manager. 
She arrived in America, speaking English as flu- 
ently as French, and left it, — or so she affirms, — 
speaking it even more so, — her memory stored with 
her many souvenirs from the martyred regions of 
her country, by the simple relating of which, she 
excelled in riveting the attention of the most varied 
audiences, and, what was still better, in convincing 
them. 

One evening in a factory of the Middle West all 
the working people, numbering several thousand, 
wished to approach and shake hands : many of them 
were in tears. One said : " My son is in France. 
Now that I have heard you I am pleased that he 
should be there." 

There has not been better activity — not propa- 
ganda, the word is a hateful one, but information 
and French sympathy — exercised in the United 
States during the war. During almost two years 
my staff made more than fifteen thousand speeches 
in English, in order to show America the real 
France, and to give her her right place in the great 
battle. We are proud to have counted among us 
these two charming " volunteers," who were so gay 
and withal so efficient at their task. 

xi 



Introduction 



The narration of their travels is vivacious and 
frank, as they are themselves. Yet, owing to their 
modesty there was something which had been omit- 
ted — to state the results of their work, which are 
of great honor to them. It is with pleasure that 
I now repair the omission, and at the same time 
express to them my affectionate gratitude. 

Andre Tardieu 



Secretary for Franco- American War Aflfairs. 
Plenipotentiary of the French Republic at 
the Peace Conference. 



Xll 



INTRODUCTION 

It would perhaps be well to explain to possible 
readers that the " We '' of the following pages re- 
fers to two sisters who have collaborated in writing 
down their experiences while travelling in the 
United States. 

Although born, educated and having always lived 
in Paris, in addition to the fact that our father is 
French, we are proud of being able to claim direct 
descent from two Signers of the Declaration of 
the Independence of America. George Clymer, 
our mother's great-grandfather, and George Read, 
both being not only signers but also f ramers of the 
Constitution of the United States. 

As already mentioned in this book we have tried 
to narrate in a very simple form our impressions 
of the wonderful country our good star led us to 
visit for the first time in 1918. We set out for the 
United States with the greatest love at heart for 
all that is American and we have returned to Paris 
with a still deeper admiration, an even greater sym- 
pathy if that were possible, and a more profound 
gratitude towards our sister-nation for all it has 
done for France. 

Some of our impressions may perhaps seem 
rather frivolous to Americans. If so we ask such 

xili 



xiv Introduction 



of our readers kindly to remember that French 
minds often have a funny twist to them and that 
the French have a decided tendency to look upon 
life with lightness of heart, good-natured amuse- 
ment and an unshakable optimism. 

Before the war this apparent French frivolity 
was often severely criticized by foreigners, but 
since then events have certainly proved that these 
national traits were capable of becoming stolid 
qualities, as for over four years they kept up with- 
out any wavering whatsoever the morale of a whole 
nation down-trodden as it was by a merciless enemy. 

We take advantage of this occasion to renew our 
most heartfelt thanks to all the Americans who 
entertained us with such warm hospitality during 
our stay in their country, thus giving us the feeling 
of having found a home wherever we went. 

We have each written an equal number of pages, 
and after that confession are wondering with true 
feminine curiosity if our readers will be interested 
enough to be tempted to guess " who ^s who.'^ 



Paris, 1920. 



CHAPTER 
I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

IX 

X 

XI 

XII 
XIII 
XIV 

XV 

XVI 

XVII 

XVIII 

XIX 

XX 
XXI 



CONTENTS 

Paris Bombarded ' ^ 3 

No Submarines 11 

New York ''En Guerre" 20 

"Dry" Washington 33 

American Hospitality 51 

Speaking for the Third Liberty Loan . 63 

Experiences in Factories 73 

Over the Top g^ 

American Generosity 92 

Touring for Devastated France . . . 100 

On a Mission for the American Govern- 
ment ... 1Q9 

'* Proper" America 128 

In the Middle West I35 

St. Louis 151 

Our Reception at Camp Dodge . . . 168 

No Indians and No Cowboys .... 185 

A Dip in Saltair with Mormons . . . 205 

The Pacific Coast 214 

San Francisco 228 

Puget Sound 245 

Vers La France 254 



A FRENCHWOMAN'S IMPRES 
SIONS OF AMERICA 



A FRENCHWOMAN'S IMPRES- 
SIGNS OF AMERICA 



CHAPTER I 

PARIS BOMBARDED 

EARLY one morning I was awakened by the 
sharp ringing of the telephone bell. I 
jumped out of bed. 
'^ Hello! Who's there? Ah! c^est vous, chere 

a'thie! ^' It was the Duchess X " What is it? 

You want me to go to America? You must let me 
think it over ! For it 's a long way off, you know — 
quite at the other end of the world, in fact. But 
what will my parents say? And so Miss Anne 
Morgan is looking for a platform speaker to tour 
her country on behalf of the ^ pays devastes ^! And 
your husband has told her about my lecture trip 
to Spain two years ago. Yes, perhaps after all I 
could manage it, and, moreover, I have always 
longed to go to the United States.'' 

Perhaps it is owing to the fact of my mother be- 
ing an American born that it comes natural to me 

3 



A FrencJiwoman' s Impressions of America 

to decide rapidly ; for I believe it is better to learn 
and maybe suffer through experience than refrain 
from acting. And so it happened that at two 
o'clock in the afternoon I met Miss Morgan for the 
first time. And it was decided that I should go to 
Blerancourt (Aisne), as soon as a permit could be 
obtained, and spend some time there in order to 
get thoroughly acquainted with the work of the 
Civilian Division of the American Fund for French 
Wounded. (It was many days before I could rat- 
tle off with any ease this interminable name.) I 
was then to start for America, to speak on behalf 
of the sixty villages that the French Government 
had placed under the superintendence of this organ- 
ization. 

" Don't say ' yes/ '' was Miss Morgan's parting 
advice, " until you are quite sure that you appre- 
ciate the relief work at Blerancourt thoroughly. 
Now I want you to understand from the beginning 
that in America you will have to play the part of a 
theatrical star. Yes, I really mean it," she added, 
as she caught a look of amusement in my eye. 
" Over there everything is different ; you will travel 
with a manager, speak from the stage, pose for 
photographers, be interviewed incessantly, and live 
entirely before the public.'^ 

My ideas were already beginning to dance a cake- 
walk through my brain! I had never dreamed of 
being considered a " theatrical star." What fun ! 

4 



Paris Bombarded 



The war had certainly contrived to turn the whole 
world topsyturvy! I can imagine what ray Paris- 
ian friends would have thought if before the war I 
had ventured to show myself daily on a stage and 
get talked of in the papers — quite an unheard of 
proceeding for a French femme du monde! Society 
would have ostracized me at once, and my friends 
Avould have been at home to me only when they were 
sure of having no one else in for tea. But now 
everything is allowed if only it be inspired by true 
patriotism, and even the deepest-rooted convention- 
alities seem to have dissolved into thin air. 

There was only one drawback to the proposed 
expedition : I felt incapable of traveling alone in a 
far-away land without growing homesick. French 
people invariably get the blues when they set foot on 
foreign soil, and I was sure I should die if I could 
not occasionally have a real " Frenchy '' conver- 
sation. 

" Why don't you come, too? " I asked my sister, 
after searching in vain for a suitable companion 
who would face the submarine risk. " We will 
chaperon each other, and you will do better work 
for our country over there, with me, than by tak- 
ing care of blind soldiers at home.'' 

My father and mother, who are perfect dears, 
and who have nobody in the world to care for but 
their two daughters, agreed to our plans with the 
stoicism which has characterized parents during 

5 



A Frenchwoman s Impressions of America 

this war. So the die was cast. We were to spend 
a few kaleidoscopic months amidst reporters, pho- 
tographers, managers, " Easterners," " Middle- 
Westerners," and " Pacific-Coasters," and see all 
the wonders of the new continent. 

We were not the least bit excited over the thrill- 
ing prospect. We looked upon it rather in the 
light of a big and fatiguing undertaking after more 
than three years of strenuous work, but at that 
time only one thing counted in our hearts — that 
the Allies should win — and every individual effort 
that we made was a small stepping-stone in that 
direction. 

So as soon as we got our passports from military 
headquarters, we set off for the war zone. How 
many times had I already traveled and motored 
through those devastated regions behind the firing- 
lines! My first tour of this kind was a week's 
sojourn in the Marne Valley in March, 1915, after 
which my aunt, the Marquise de Ganay, and I 
founded the society called " Le Bon Gite," of which 
she is president. It is the largest French relief 
organization of its kind, and has never ceased to 
supply furniture to thousands of families in the 
ruined villages. 

Miss Morgan's and Mrs. Dike's organization at 
Blerancourt was very remarkable. The founders 
were assisted by twenty energetic American women 
and girls, who looked very trim in their neat hori- 

6 



Paris Bombarded 



zon-blue uniforms, and accomplished a tremendous 
amount of excellent work. They are all in love 
with the old French peasan4:s and the darling little 
children living amidst the ruins, and these in their 
turn are filled with the deepest admiration for the 
braves demoiselles americaines, who live in wooden 
barracks as thej do, and yet look to them like 
Olympic goddesses. 

Time passed and March was soon upon us and we 
traveled down to Bordeaux a few days before our 
sailing-date. The last week in Paris was terrible. 
Gothas rained bombs on us almost every night, and 
we scarcely closed our eyes. The train was over- 
crowded with people leaving on account of the air 
raids. Such raids, even though made every twenty- 
four hours, could have no military value whatso- 
ever. 

As everybody knows, Parisians kept admirably 
calm, but I must admit that from time to time the 
scaremongers contrived somewhat to upset our 
equilibrium. As, for instance, when we were in- 
formed that enemy submarines were to visit in Paris 
that evening by way of the main sewers. '' Why 
not? '' asked some. " Nothing would surprise us 
now from the Hun.'^ And so we waited, wondering 
with a smile whether our night would be spent in 
the cellar or in the attic. 

Bordeaux had by that time become fairly Ameri- 
canized ; khaki uniforms were to be seen everywhere, 

7 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

and the English language was more generally heard 
in the streets than French. 

After an undisturbed night, my father woke us 
with these unexpected and terrible words : " Paris 
is being bombed by big guns ! '^ 

It seemed incredible. Had the Germans ad- 
vanced with such speed that they were within reach 
of the capital? 

" No," answered the prefect , a friend of ours, 
whom we rushed off to see at the prefecture^ " Paris 
is being shelled from the Aisne by the most power- 
ful long-range gun Krupp has yet invented. I have 
just got the news directly from the Government, 
as I have the only civilian long-distance telephone 
allowed in Bordeaux during w^ar-time." 

My parents, who had come to wish us farewell, — 
for this was our first crossing of the Atlantic, — 
left at once and returned to Paris. They wanted 
to be among those who set the example to the popu- 
lation to show that they would not desert their 
town when in real danger. So we waited patiently 
in Bordeaux for the Chicago to sail, getting worse 
and worse news from the front every day. 

That afternoon, on getting out of the lift, we saw 
an American officer trying vainly to manipulate 
the little knobs. 

" I can't make this confounded elevator rise an 
inch ! '' 

I said to him quietly : 

8 



Paris Bombarded 



" May I show you how to manage it? '' 

Whereupon he put down his hand-bag, gasped, 
and exclaimed : " My goodness, you speak English ! 
Isn't that just wonderful ! I guess you 're the first 
woman speaking to me in my own tongue since I 
crossed three weeks ago. Do you mind if we just 
have a little talk together? It 's fine to be able to 
speak to women ! " 

We dined with him and a friend of his, who also 
was an American officer. He showed us a little 
book he was learning by heart, the jolliest little 
book imaginable, called " Five Minutes' Conversa- 
tion with the Ladies." I opened it and read : 

" Permettezmoi de vous serrer la main. 
Per-mettay moa devoo serray lamainn. 
Allow me to squeeze your hand." 

What a delightfully unexpected English transla- 
tion! I wonder what compiler had the happy 
thought that shaking hands meant squeezing; and 
I suppose it is preferably taken literally! Fore- 
warned, I slipped off my right-hand ring, the one 
that always hurts so, when we said good night. 

There is also in the book a delightful farewell 
phrase (after five minutes' conversation) : 

" Our happiness has been far too short." 

After dinner we strolled off, the four of us, to 
get a glimpse of Bordeaux by night. The streets 
were poorly lighted, and we found that walking 
about was no easy undertaking. As we stepped off 

9 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

the pavement, I suddenly felt a hand quietly taking 
hold of my elbow. I wondered in what words I 
should reprimand the audacious officer. Then 
as we reached the opposite pavement, the hand 
dropped my arm like a hot potato. Every time we 
crossed a street, the same thing occurred, and I 
suddenly understood that this must be ordained 
by American politeness. 

And so it is. In America, any man with whom 
you are walking takes your elbow in a discreet 
fashion when you cross a street, or walk in an un- 
steady way along a rough road. But if you want 
to do anything as enterprising as to go up a flight 
of stairs on foot in the land of " elevators," the 
man in charge of you takes hold of your elbow as 
if you were the most precious and incapable para- 
lytic in the world, and he almost carries you to the 
top. 

In France we rarely trust our elbows to men, 
probably because they would never feel satisfied to 
stop there, but would soon want an additional part 
of the arm. 



10 



CHAPTER II 

NO SUBMARINES 

AFTER six days spent in Bordeaux we at last 
went aboard the Chicago^ the twenty-fifth 
of March, and steamed out of the harbor in 
the night. The following day we reached Le Ver- 
don, and we cast anchor and waited patiently at the 
mouth of the Gironde for the destroyer that was to 
escort us for the first thirty hours. During that 
time, the captain tried the gun, and the marines 
exercised their skill on a distant barrel, supposed 
to represent a submarine. Brr! It sent a little 
creepy wireless message down our spines, and it 
had the excellent effect of reminding us very forci- 
bly that we were at war, as we were presently 
to enter the danger zone. Some of the saloon win- 
dow-panes were shattered to pieces, owing to the 
tremendous vibration caused by each detonation. 

At three o'clock we were marshaled up on deck, 
and the order was given for us to appear with our 
life-belts on, that we might be shown our places in 
the life-boats in case of danger. We all rushed to 
our cabins and reappeared immediately looking like 
a race of strange sea-monsters. Not one of the 

11 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

life-belts fitted its wearer. Some of us " swam •' 
in them, whereas others could n't manage to make 
theirs meet around their bulky forms! I think 
nothing ever excited our hilarity more than seeing 
what a ridiculous-looking lot of people we had be- 
come in the span of a few seconds. The next quar- 
ter of an hour was spent in exchanging protective 
belts and trying to make some of the more rebellious 
ones fit with the help of a few safety-pins. 

In our cabin we found a notice to the effect 
that in case an alarm were sounded by the siren, we 
should repair immediately to life-boat Number Two. 
On deck a placard with a big figure ^^2" was fastened 
to the railing, and there we should have to step into 
the boat and wait until it was lowered into the sea. 
All through the danger zone we all prayed silently 
that no periscopes might rise on our horizon. In 
fact we all shared a healthy optimism, as do the 
soldiers in the trenches : " Other boats may sink, 
but not ours; we are immune.'' Why, and where- 
fore, were questions that we did not try to answer ; 
our faith was born of an intuitive conviction that 
nothing could ever happen to a ship of the French 
Compagnie Transatlantique. 

Sometime the following afternoon the anchor was 
raised and we steamed out into the big ocean with 
a destroyer at our side, prancing up and down, and 
tossed on the rough waves like a small toy. 

There were very few women on board and these 

12 



No Submarines 



were mostly dressmakers going to sell the latest 
Paris models in the big American cities. Nearly 
all the men were in uniform and belonged to various 
military missions. We also had fifty Spanish pas- 
sengers of the laboring class, and we considered 
them our mascots. The Spanish Government had 
wired to Washington announcing their presence on 
the Chicago, and as the Germans always seem to 
know everything that is going on, we felt secure 
with these neutrals on board. 

Among the passengers I met an ardent American 
suffragist. Needless to say, we became acquainted ; 
for, being born with an inquiring turn of mind, I 
always enjoy the company of those who live for an 
ideal and out of the ordinary trend of existence. 
My clever suffragist had been sent on a six-month 
tour around the world and was then on her way 
back to the States after having investigated the 
woman's-rights question in Japan, Siberia, Russia, 
Sweden, England, and France. This woman had 
certainly given proof of indomitable will and 
moral courage. All alone she had faced the perils 
of Siberia in a period of greatest unrest, and the 
grave dangers of the revolution in Petrograd. 

" Did the results of your investigations come up 
to what you expected? '' was naturally my first 
eager question. 

" Yes,'' she answered, " Japan astonished me, and 
Russia also ; the women in both these countries are 

13 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

far more progressive than I had expected to find 
them. England's women I knew all about, as they 
have made themselves more prominent than have 
their sisters in any other part of the world. But 
the French women have disillusioned me." 

" And what has caused this disillusionment? " 
I asked, somewhat astonished. 

" Oh ! they are the least feminist of all." 

" Well, is it because they desire only to be fem- 
inine? " 

" Yes, perhaps. The French woman does not 
want ' rights ' ; she is satisfied with managing men. 
Tell me, don't you want the vote? " 

I laughed. 

" The vote ! Why, the enemy is on our soil and 
there is no time for feminism. Men and women, 
too, have first to win the w^ar." 

" And when the war is over? " 

" Ah ! French women have no intention of re- 
maining behind their epoch; they will no doubt 
ask for the vote, and I imagine they will get it 
when they w^ant it." 

" By a smile I " answered the suffragist, with a 
sigh, "as they obtain everything else. In France a 
smile is woman's strongest weapon, I have ob- 
served I " 

Life on board was very simple. Nobody thought 
of dressing in the evening, and no one undressed at 
all during the first few nights. Our captain kindly 

14) 



No Submarines 



asked me to be seated on his right at table. How- 
ever, he did not put in an appearance at all until 
the danger zone was passed. We met him for the 
first time on the fifth day. 

" Two nights ago/' he told us, " we had an S S 
call from a sinking vessel, but it must have gone 
down extremely rapidly, for it had not time to 
indicate its position." 

" And suppose the wireless had given more ac- 
curate information, w^ould you have gone to the 
rescue of the wrecked victims? '' 

" Certainly not ! We have strict orders to refrain 
from any interference, because sending out false 
SOS calls is one of the methods by which German 
submarines decoy passenger-boats; attracting to 
them in this way the ships that they want to tor- 
pedo." 

" Have you ever been in the immediate vicinity 
of a torpedoed boat, mon commandant? ^^ inquired 
a French colonel across the table. 

" Yes, once last year. We were sailing at night 
with all lights out, when we suddenly heard the 
most ghastly shrieks and cries of distress arising 
from the dark waters at a little distance from us. 
It was one of the most nerve-racking experiences 
I have ever undergone." The captain was visibly 
moved at the awful recollection. 

" And what did you do? " we all exclaimed. 

" What could we do? So many passengers' lives 

15 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

are entrusted to my care. It is a grave responsi- 
bility, and I have to obey orders. We sailed care- 
fully through the horrible zone, and for days and 
nights I could still hear the cries ringing like a 
death-knell in my ears.'' 

" Do you think all the people were drowned? '' 
asked some one, in a breathless undertone. 

" I don't suppose so, as the war-ships always go 
to the rescue as soon as the signal of distress is 
wired through space." 

The captain then changed the conversation. 

The sun went down at about seven every evening, 
and the sailors screened the sides of the deck with 
a large canvas sheet that prevented the light of an 
open door or even of a cigar from being visible out 
at sea. In the eabins and the saloons all port- 
holes were covered over for the same reason, and 
we spent the rest of the night in an atmosphere 
of sultriness and smoke. It was almost impossible 
to remain on deck on account of the total darkness 
reigning there, and the difficulty of getting about 
and finding the entrance doors from the outside. 

There was one man on board who had a strange 
and haggard look in his eyes. I was told that he 
was the captain of a foreign ship and was crossing 
to New York as a passenger. His story was rather 
a curious one. He had been shipwrecked three 
times since the beginning of the war. On the last 
voyage he was taken prisoner with two others by 

16 



No Submarines 



an enemy submarine crew, and their life-boat was 
attached to the periscope. Two days later the Ger- 
mans spied a British vessel in the distance and for 
some reason of their own they released their pris- 
oners and abandoned them in the small launch, 
whilst they themselves disappeared hastily into the 
dej)ths. 

The captain and his companions waved their 
handkerchiefs to the English ship, but no one on 
board noticed their signals, and the big boat slowly 
disappeared beyond the horizon. Their hearts 
grew heavy as they faced the wide ocean where no 
one seemed likely to save them from starvation 
and thirst. Five days they floated in this way, 
without food or water, till at last the little life- 
boat drifted to the shores of Madeira, with the three 
men lying half-dead within it. 

After a week spent on board I thought we must 
surely have met all the charming people there, so 
what was my astonishment when an American, who 
was one of the passengers with whom we had con- 
versed the most, asked to be allowed to introduce to 
us an Ex-Governor of Massachusetts. Massa- 
chusetts is a very difficult word for French people 
to pronounce. A Parisian lady after hearing this 
name tried to repeat it, but managed only to say, 
''Met ses chaussettes ! '' The sound of the French 
is nearly the same words but the phrase means, 
" Put on his socks ! '^ 

17 



A Frencliwomaris Impressions of America 

We found the ex-governor, who is a bachelor, per- 
fectly charming, and we enjoyed his company very 
much. 

"Do you intend coming to Boston?" he asked 
us. 

" We certainly intend going there. We should 
be extremely disappointed to miss the intellectual 
center of the United States." 

" Will you let me know your plans? For I 
should like you both to stay at my house." 

I probably looked puzzled and astonished, for he 
immediately added: 

" You can accept, you know ; in the States it 's 
perfectly correct. Many young women come to 
stay with me; even when I am not at home, I put 
my house at their disposal, as I always leave my 
servants there." 

" Do you mean to say that you invite us even 
if you are out of town? " I inquired, astonished at 
this splendid hospitality. 

" Wihy, certainly ! I have a very good cook, and 
you will enjoy her bacon." 

We got very tired of the water after a fortnight, 
and when at last we saw the wonderful statue of 
Bartholdi's guarding the port of New York we 
hailed it with delight. Then we caught sight of 
the skyscrapers, in the distance looking like aerial 
cathedrals. 

I will not attempt to describe them; they have 

18 



No Submarines 



already been portrayed well and often, and I feel 
utterly incapable of writing in an adequate literary 
descriptive style. All I can say is that nothing is 
more impressive. New York makes me think of a 
city composed of innumerable towers of Babel, God 
this time having allowed men to build up to the 
skies without punishing them by the confusion of 
tongues. I suppose it is because America is made 
up of people of all nationalities, and that as a re- 
ward for their all having learned English God has 
let them attain almost to the heights of His own 
kingdom. 



19 



CHAPTER III 

NEW YORK "EN GUERRE'' 

THE landing formalities are long and tire- 
some. We had filled in any number of 
legal papers, affirming among other 
things that we were not bigamists and had no in- 
tention of becoming so. Fortunately the chief de- 
tective, an amiable and clever-looking official, came 
to our rescue as soon as he discovered us on the 
Chicago, and we immediately obtained from the 
port authorities, who held council in the saloon 
like Pluto and his associates, the permission to 
land. 

" Where is Miss Morgan? " we asked anxiously. 

" She has just sailed for France." 

This answer was given by Miss X — , a friend of 
Miss Morgan's, who had come to greet us at the 
dock. 

" But when did she leave? " 

"A few days ago, on account of the offensive. 
She wanted to be over there with her unit. All her 
friends here will take good care of you." 

But already, as we were speaking, we saw several 
reporters coming toward us. 

20 



New York "En Guerre 



" What do you think of New York en guerre f ^' 

This was our first acquaintance with American 
reporters, as we had never before crossed the At- 
lantic. They seemed very polite and asked only 
a few questions while an employee unlocked our 
trunks. Mr. Sharp, the American Ambassador in 
Paris, had very kindly given us a letter for the 
Custom-house. Every one was most courteous and 
after a simple formality, which consisted in open- 
ing our trunks and shutting them up again without 
even inspeciing what was inside, we were free to 
leave the dock. 

" When is my first talk. Miss X — ? " I asked, 
imagining that as Americans have the reputation 
of acting with lightning rapidity I might be taken 
immediately upon a platform. 

" In a few days' time, but I must first tell you 
that the new name of our organization is * The 
American Committee for Devastated France.' '^ 

This conversation led us to the exit door, where 
Miss Morgan's motor-car was waiting for us. Its 
owner had most kindly put it at our disposal for 
our stay in New York; and she also asked us to 
look upon her studio as our own. 

We drove to the Vanderbilt Hotel, where we 
had a suite of rooms on the fourteenth floor, and 
I assure you we felt that we had finally entered 
upon the way to heaven ! At last we were to know 

21 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

what New York life really was like. We had 
heard so much about it that actually to live it 
filled us with excitement. 

I rang the bell; the waiter came in and took 
my orders. He spoke with a very pronounced 
foreign accent. Pushed by curiosity, I asked, " Are 
you American? " 

" No, ma'am ; I 'm a Pole.'^ 

Then the telephone rang again; it had already 
rung several times since our arrival. 

" Hello ! Hello ! Is this the Countess de Bryas, 
who arrived on the Chicago? ^^ 

" Yes.'' 

" I 'm a reporter from the Y — paper, and should 
like an interview." 

" Very well, I will see you to-morrow morning at 
eleven o'clock, at the studio." 

The porter brought up our luggage. He, too, had 
a decidedly foreign accent. 

" Are you American? " 

" No, ma'am ; I 'm a Swede." 

Then the maid came to ask us if she could help 
us. 

"Are you an American?" I asked, hoping at 
last to see a real American. 

" No, ma'am ; I 'm Irish." 

" But where are the Americans? " I exclaimed 
to my sister. 

22 



New York ''En Guerre 



" I 'm beginning to wonder whether we shall ever 
see any/' was her reply. 

Then a friend came in to see us and was still 
there when the waiter entered to remove our tea- 
tray. I signed the check and let the man go, hav- 
ing rewarded him with nothing more than thanks. 

" But you have forgotten the tip," said my friend. 
" We tip each time the^^ bring us up anything — 
a meal, a parcel, flowers, or telegrams." 

" It is fortunate that you told us I " I exclaimed. 
" In Europe we tip only at the end of our stay at 
the hotel, as each floor has its special servants." 

It took us some time to get over the effects of 
our voyage, and for hours the walls of the room 
seemed to w^altz around us. I felt as if I were 
tipsy, a strange feeling for me, truly ! Both people 
and things performed a wild jig in front of me. 
The dance was so fast and so furious that the only 
remedy was to go to bed. But even that was what 
the Americans would call " quite a job." For a 
bed in motion is no end of trouble to get into, but 
I finally managed to get ahead of it and jumped in 
with a sigh of relief. My eyes closed, and the 
dance was over. 

With what a thrill, after a good night's rest, did 
we wake up to the knowledge that we were really 
in New York ! For many seemed the years we had 
been waiting to see that wonderful city, with its 

23 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

sky-scrapers and its intensely active life. And 
when at last one finds oneself in it, the feeling is 
a marvelous one indeed. But the ringing of the 
telephone soon put an end to my happy dreams and 
brought me back to earth. 

I had never before in my life heard the telephone 
ring so often as I did then, for in France the tele- 
phone is less in use than in the States. 

" Shall I ever manage to get dressed ! " exclaimed 
my sister. 

" I hope so,'' I replied," for we have an appoint- 
ment with the reporters at eleven o'clock." 

However, we arrived punctually at the studio, 
and there we met a number of reporters, who all 
immediately asked the same questions — whether 
we had seen a submarine, and if we were in Paris 
when the long-distance gun was bombarding the 
city! Our chagrin may be better imagined than 
described at having to answer that we left Paris 
just fixe minutes before the first shell fell into the 
city, en route for Bordeaux, to sail on that un- 
lucky boat that missed all the submarines, every 
one of them ! 

I was then photographed many times — sitting, 
standing, looking out of the window, first with my 
hat on, and then without it — and, as I afterward 
found, I kept on smiling through it all despite the 
fact that I had never in my life been photographed 
so often in so short a space of time. We then left 

24 



New York ''En Guerre 



the studio and were taken to a photographer on 
Fifth Avenue, where we both had to pose in order 
to have other photographs ready for the press, hop- 
ing in this way to avoid being snapshotted in every 
town by each local paper. While I was talking to 
the photographer, two more reporters came in and 
asked for an interview. 

I was much struck by the great sympathy all 
those I had spoken with felt for France. They all 
admired what she has done, the way the men had 
fought and the women had helped in the struggle. 
The love that unites America and France is one 
beautiful feature of this war. America's love is the 
healing balm that will help France to recover from 
all her wounds. The word " Americain '' is 
blessed by all the French. It is uttered with love, 
with reverence, with admiration, and with grati- 
tude. There is an affinity between the two nations 
from which has sprung this great sentiment that no 
human power can destroy, for it comes from the 
heart and is a great spiritual love. 

Not only do the Americans nurse our wounded 
soldiers, but they take care of our civilian popula- 
tion in the devastated regions and all over the coun- 
try. The Rockefeller Foundation is struggling 
against the terrible scourge of tuberculosis, which 
has spread like a plague in my country since the 
war. The " Fatherless Children of France," by the 
adoption of hundreds of thousands of little orphans, 

25 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

is certainly coutribiiting to link the two countries 
together by creating a sincere affection between the 
young generation of France and all the genera- 
tions in America, for our children are adopted by 
people of all ages and all classes in the United 
States. 

I was told the other day a most touching story, 
which went straight to my heart and filled my eyes 
with tears. In one of the American camps in the 
States a French orphan, a little girl, has been 
adopted by one of the cooks of a regiment. He has 
taken in his charge a little child living in France, 
and through his affectionate care has become her 
protector, in fact, her second father. Not content 
with having her brought up at his own expense, he 
devotes his economies to sending her toys, which 
make of her a bright and happy child. He is giv- 
ing her not only the instruction that will help her 
later in life but, what is perhaps more important, 
he is, through sacrifice, making of her a normal 
child, brought up in a happy home amidst all that 
makes children smile and live in dreamland. 

As we drove away to go back to the hotel, we 
craned our necks to try to get a glimpse of all 
that was to be seen from the windows of the motor- 
car. Fifth Avenue ! And this time we did indeed 
realize what New York in war time means. The 
Third Liberty Loan Drive had just begun, and huge 
bright red-bordered flags were hanging lengthwise 

26 



New York ''En Guerre 



across the avenue bearing the words, " Fight the 
Huns," ^[ If you have not bought a bond, you are 
a slacker," " What are you going to do to help the 
boys," etc., printed in enormous letters. On the 
walls of the houses big posters were seen, bearing 
expressive and encouraging mottoes to help win 
the war, such as " Give till it hurts." Then other 
posters were placarded everywhere, representing in 
descriptive painting " Pershing's Crusaders." 

The war was everywhere — on the walls, in the 
windows, where little flags appeared with the stars 
indicating the number of men in a household or a 
firm who are soldiers. Most cars had the Ameri- 
can, French, and English flags floating from the 
motor and another flag hanging in the window be- 
hind. Decorated stands were erected in different 
sections of the avenue and I could see women ad- 
dressing crowds of passers-by, and from their ener- 
getic gestures and the attentive look of their au- 
diences I fancied they must be '' hitting straight 
from the shoulder." This was my first contact with 
the speaking craze of which I was destined to be- 
come a victim ! 

Fifth Avenue looked so bright under its gay-col- 
ored flags that the town seemed decked out as if for 
some great victory. All this was perfectly novel 
to us, and we simply stared with excitement. No 
women in France ever make speeches out-of-doors ; 
few men, in fact, do so, unless they are congress- 

27 



A Frcnchtcomaii's I Jti lyrcmons of America 

men, and thou only at snch ceremonies as the un- 
veiling of a coninioniorative monument. 

The American women one sees in the street are 
all apparently lovely, and so well dressed in every 
w^ay. Their heads are small and well propor- 
tioned. Their profiles are a wonder to me for their 
beauty, perfectly (irecian and statuesque in their 
pure outline. The forehead and the chin follow a 
straight line with the nose and nowhere is there 
seen the lish protile which is so common in Europe. 
(I mean a retreating forehead and a chin swal- 
lowed up in the neck, which makes the nose stand 
out of the face conspicuously.) In fact, after a 
little while in America, I began to miss the strong, 
commanding, predominant nose, which is consid- 
ered rather an aristocratic feature on the old con- 
tinent. AVomen's noses in the United States are 
generally a poem of delicacy, small, refined, and 
regular. 

Almost all the women wear their shoes and slip- 
pers long and pointed, which gives an appearance 
of retiuement to the foot. This fashion does not 
come from Paris, where the shoes are very short, 
with higher heels and round at the toe, but I be- 
lieve in general I prefer the look of American feet. 
I was very much struck by the daintiness of the 
young girls and young women. They almost in- 
variably have peach-like complexions, in spite of 
indulging in out-of-door sports and exposure to the 

28 



New York ''En Guerre 



sun. They have silky hair, which they wear 
brushed off the forehead and brought back in a 
wavy curl over the ears. 

To my surprise, J saw no old ladies about — 
not what we call in France the typical vieille dame, 
the kind that w^ears a little bonnet and goes to 
church every morning at dawn. Perhaps women 
age becomingly in America; maybe they remain 
at home ; or very likely they are all dead ! I should 
not be astonished to learn that people die off quicker 
in New York than elsewhere in the " rush-your- 
breath-out " existence. The older women are hand- 
some, with exquisite silvery white hair, as though 
powdered in Washington's time or at Marie An- 
toinette's court; their faces are young and purpose- 
ful. 

I have a wild theory of my own that God created 
the black, the yellow, and the red human races, 
and that lie then made yet another race of people, 
a mixture of the preceding ones, a sort of " rainbow 
division," called the Aryans. Now the Aryans de- 
clared that when they looked black they were only 
dark-skinned from the sun ; when they were yellow- 
looking, it was due to jaundice ; and when they were 
red they were apoplectic, and that in all cases they 
were the white race. God has been giving them a 
famous lesson during the two past centuries. For 
He is making a mixture of Aryans on American 
soil, and has decreed that they are to be the real 

29 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 



great white race, and so He makes their hair turn 
white while they are still very young and gives 
them their pink-and-white complexions. 

In retuniing to the Vanderbilt, always anxious 
about the war news, I got the evening papers and 
Avhat was not our surprise and amusement to see 
my photograph and an account of one of the in- 
terviews under this heading: 

COITNTESS HERE TO AID DESTITUTE. 
SORRY SHE MISSED RAID ON PARIS. 

Mon Dieu ; life is of a sadness ! Think of having to spend 
all one's life explaining how it happened that one left Paris 
just one hour before the great German gun began the long- 
distance bombardment! Think of having to smile all one's 
life and describe an ocean voyage of the year 1918 without 
even a peek of a submarine! 

That is the plight of the fair Countess Madeleine de Bryas, 
blonde and blue-eyed, who arrived here recently after having 
systematically missed all the big shows of 1918. 

Two telegrams were brought up to my sitting- 
room — one from Monsieur Jusserand, our French 
Ambassador, and the other from Monsieur Andr6 
Tardieu, our French High Commissioner, inviting 
us to luncheon and dinner in Washington two days 
later. 

I looked at the clock and, seeing it was the din- 
ner hour, we decided for the first time since our ar- 
rival to take the meal in the dining-room. As we 
entered, the orchestra was playing ragtime and a 

30 



New York " En Guerre 



feoliri^ of .sj<(Jn('HH inimediatciJy crept ovor mo. It 
f(ilt Jik(i ji vv(!i^lit oij my heart, as I looked round 
and saw the happy faces of people seemingly able to 
enjoy that dance mnsic. For almost four long 
years France had been invaded, the enemy on our 
soil, and all gay music had been silenced. On the 
day of the declaration of war the orchestras ceased 
playing in all restaurants and hotels, i)m't\^f be- 
cause the men had all left to go to defend their 
country and also as a sign of respect toward those 
who w(*re laying down their lives on the battle- 
field for the women and children of France. 

l>ut such, fortunately, was not the case in 
AnH^rica and I thought it \itYy wise to keep things 
going as usual and not depress the nation. It 
would have been wT-ong, truly, to make life gloomy 
for those who were going " over there," before cross- 
ing the ocean. The " boys " all arrived in France 
with a splendid morale, and I am convinced that 
the fact was partly due to the influence of the last 
bright and happy days they spent in their country 
before coming to ^^ fight the Huns," and help to de- 
liver the world from the tyranny of militarism. 

We were awakened by the telephone: 

" Hello! Hello I " " You want an interview? " 
" \Q^vy well then ; my sister will see you this after- 
noon at the studio ! " 

And yet it had seemed to me that I had spoken 
the previous day to all the reporters in the town, 

3X 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

and my sister was of my opinion, whereupon we 
concluded that they grew like mushrooms, spring- 
ing up in a single night. I supposed it was better 
to see them all, specially as I could frankly say 
that I quite enjoyed speaking to them; they were 
such attentive listeners, it was a real pleasure to 
give them interviews. 

We had spent the evening before in trying to 
get into our heads and on the tips of our tongues 
the new title of Miss Morgan's committee " The 
American Committee for Devastated France." For 
English people it is very easy to remember, but for 
the French it is a real undertaking to have to 
change the name without mixing it up with the for- 
mer one, " Civilian Division of the American Fund 
for French Wounded.'^ 

Miss Morgan's motor-car came to take us to the 
committee headquarters. 

" Give the address, dear," I said to my sister, as 
I entered the carriage. 

" Please take us to the devastated committee ! " 

Then, shaking with laughter, having realized that 
she had not yet caught the name correctly, we 
started for this new devastation. 



32 



CHAPTER IV 

"dry" WASHINGTON 

I SECURED our tickets and lower berths for 
Washington, and I was in reality filled with 
curiosity to know what my impressions of the 
Pullman car would be. 

Just a few minutes before eleven o'clock that 
evening we went to the station, to find it one of 
the most beautiful, certainly, w^e had ever seen, 
splendid in its huge proportions and palace-like in 
effect. What wonderful fetes could be held there! 
I began to imagine all the artistic entertainments 
possible of being given in a building of such vast 
dimensions. Then we found ourselves on the plat- 
form and entered our car. 

My first impression ! Shall I really say what it 
was? I had the feeling of entering a catacomb. 
For there before me, in semi-obscurity, were feet, 
legs, arms, and occasionally heads protruding from 
behind long green curtains. And I thought of 
Italy, where one of the attractions offered tourists 
is a view of the limbs of early martyrs, all sys- 
tematically hung upon the walls of dark passages 
or artistically exposed to the view of the curious 

33 



A FrcrwlncomaJi^s Impress-ions of A in erica 

public. But liei'e you had the show included in the 
price of your railway ticket, and the onl}' extra 
was your tip to the colored porter upon arrival at 
your destination. 

When I was shown the lower berth w here I was 
to spend the night, my second impression was — 
of a tomb! Surely, I thought, one was eyen buried 
aliye in this extraordinary place! And I recol- 
lected an adyenture experienced by one of my 
friends on a yisit to the Koman catacombs. Ac- 
companied by his favorite dog, he was shown 
through this interesting place by an old monk. 
After a long walk amongst the skeletons, he was 
amazed to see his dog rushing toward him, wagging 
his tail and bearing triumphantly in his mouth the 
shin-bone of some time-honored saint, believing 
himself in luck at having found a bone ! 

It is easy to picture the horrified attitude of the 
monk, who quickly rushed back through the long 
passages with the recaptured shin-bone, endeav- 
oring to identify the particular " relic " to whom 
this limb belonged. 

So, thought I, beware when traveling in a Pull- 
man car; for w^hat more likely than that you might 
some day lose your little toe snapped off by a 
passenger's pet! 

Early in the morning we arrived in Washington. 
Another magnificent station! I was told that the 
passenger concourse here is the largest room under 

34 



Dry " Washington 



one roof in the world and that an army of fifty 
thousand men could stand on the floor. How thor- 
oughly we now realized what we had so often heard 
that everything in America is built on a huge scale, 
as if the country were inhabited by a population 
of giants! 

We went directly to the Shoreham Hotel. It 
was crowded with people of different nationalities 
who had all flocked to the capital ; for in war-time 
Washington was the great center of interest in the 
States. 

" Shall we soon have our luggage? '' 

" I cannot tell, Countess," answered the man- 
ager. " Some people who arrived a week ago are 
still waiting for theirs.'^ 

" But we are lunching at the French Embassy 
and we cannot go there in our traveling-clothes." 

" I am sorry, but on account of the war the 
station is congested, and it is impossible for you 
to have your baggage to-day." 

I turned toward my sister: " Eh bien, nous voici 
dans de beaux draps ! " of which the literal trans- 
lation would be " Well, here we are in beautiful 
sheets," but the English express it by, " We are in 
a pretty mess ! " 

Madame Jusserand received us with her well- 
known amiability, and when we excused ourselves 
for coming in traveling-clothes to see her, she put 
us at our ease at once by saying : 

35 



A Frenchwovian's Impressions of America 

" It is the war, and I know well that French- 
women have dressed most simply during these last 
four years.- ' 

Our ambassadress was herself attired in a charm- 
ingly sober dress, which indicated well the feeling 
of seriousness of a whole nation sullied during 
forty-live months by the presence of a brutal and 
inhuman enemy. Monsieur and Madame Jusse- 
rand have won the hearts of all the Americans who 
know them. Madame Jusserand inquired about 
" Le Bon Gite," and I was happy to be able person- 
ally to thank her for the interest she had shown 
in it, in sending me frequent checks to help the 
poor stricken population of our devastated regions. 
The French Government erects the little wooden 
huts which the " Bon Gite • ' provides w^ith furni- 
ture. 

On leaving the embassy, we drove through the 
town and thoroughh' enjoyed seeing the lovely 
houses. A^'ashington is truly a very beautiful city, 
with its spacious and shady avenues lined with 
picturesque mansions. The monuments remind me 
of the architecture of Greece, which wondrous land 
I visited some years ago. The houses here are often 
built of reddish or brown sandstone, but I prefer 
by far those painted white, with high windows and 
balconies. How we missed balconies in America! 
To a French eye houses look undressed without 
them, as a woman would without a single jewel. 

36 



Dry " Washington 



What would our Parisian boulevards and our ave- 
nues look like if there were not galleries or balco- 
nies running along their fa(^ades like a delicate iron 
lace- work, giving them the finishing touch of ele- 
gance ! 

Here we saw everywhere, as in New York, the 
famous fire-escape ladders; for we were told that 
in America houses bum down almost viciously, so 
to express it, as if an army of little invisible fire 
salamanders were blowing hard, with cheeks puffed 
out at sight of the slightest flame, in order to cause 
a conflagration. I don't know whether or not any- 
body ever uses the ladders in case of alarm, but I 
imagine burglars find in them a remarkably con- 
venient means of breaking into houses. Americans 
assure me they are never afraid of thieves, and yet 
I am told that maiden ladies in Nantucket have a 
man come and guard their houses at night. One 
man advertised as follows: 

" Our job during the day is twenty-five cents an 
hour; sleeping with nervous old ladies, fifty cents.'' 

A thing that struck us immediately was the 
number of colored people in the streets. In France 
we see colored women only in circuses and we go to 
look at them as a special attraction. One never 
sees them walking about the streets, and it would 
be an event to meet a number of them either in a 
tram-car or in the subway of Paris. In Washing- 
ton there are more colored people than white walk- 

37 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

ing about. The women, notwithstanding their 
somber complexions, are very showy, owing to the 
vivid colors they seem to enjoy wearing — in order, 
perhaps, to try to look brighter than the white 
people. 

The little negro children were our delight; they 
looked so happy and contented with life. They 
walk as if they were perpetually dancing — that 
is, when not on their roller-skates, on which they 
seem to spend the greater part of their lives. When 
the family is a large one, the skates are shared 
among its members, and it is not unusual to see a 
child on one skate, hopping along on the other 
foot, with which he pushes vigorously. 

Policemen in Washington look very impressive 
indeed, and have acquired the most wonderful 
knack of making independent and simultaneous 
movements with different parts of the body — 
somewhat, I thought, in the style of the Dalcroze 
system and other rhythmic dances, in which you 
have to beat one time with the right hand, and an- 
other with the left one, while your head and your 
legs are called upon to beat yet another in concert. 
No time is ever wasted in America; with the one 
hand the policeman beckons forward one lot of cars ; 
with the other he signals a stop to those coming 
from another direction, all the while talking and in- 
dicating the way to a " footman." (I was most in- 
terested to learn that a footman in certain parts of 

38 



Dry '' Washington 



America meant not only a man-servant, but also a 
pedestrian. I well remember the notice on a bridge 
somewhere in the Middle West : " No footmen al- 
lowed in this thoroughfare.") 

Policemen, it seemed to me, are the most con- 
spicuous figures in the city. I was particularly 
amused at some of them perched up in a sort of 
pulpit, from which they direct not consciences, but 
street strategy. They have at their disposal an in- 
strument composed of metal flags at the top of a 
pole. These, which they show alternately, bear the 
words " Go " and " Stop." In this way, the regula- 
tion of traffic is very easily accomplished. (Occa- 
sionally policemen also serve as advertisers. As, for 
instance, during a Red Cross drive all of them in a 
certain town held in their right hands a Japanese 
fan with a huge red cross printed on it.) Every- 
body in America is thoroughly disciplined. When 
the trafific manager makes a signal meaning 
" Stop," all the cars cease running, with law-abid- 
ing respect. There are none of those loud recrimi- 
nations which we hear from our Parisian ex-cochers 
de fiacre^ who abandoned their old vehicles to be- 
come taxi-drivers, without leaving behind them 
their old vociferous grumbling. 

Next morning we determined to go to the Union 
Station and fetch our trunks as in the evening we 
were to dine with Monsieur Tardieu, head of the 
French High Commission. On getting there we 

39 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

found a delightful, roguish-looking darky, who 
helped us most oWigingly in our search, taking us 
down somewhere into the mysterious underground 
depths of the station in a baggage elevator. When 
T told our colored friend that we were French, he 
looked at me complacently for a few seconds and 
then paid me the biggest compliment he could 
think of. 

" Gee ! Well, I guess your father is good enough 
to be mine ! " 

After hunting for some time amid gigantic stacks 
of trunks, we spied our own two boxes and had 
them sent immediately to the hotel. 

" How are you to-day, Captain? '' 

" Fine I '' answered a woman's voice. We in- 
stinctively turned around, wishing to solve this 
mystery, and were confronted by a young woman in 
khaki uniform. Our eyes opened wide in astonish- 
ment as we contemplated this unfeminine woman. 

" How on earth did she manage to get that 
rank ! '' I whispered to my sister. 

" I suppose she has killed at least a dozen Huns," 
she replied in a still lower voice. 

For Frenchwomen do not wear uniforms; in 
fact, we had no time to think about them! The 
war broke out so suddenly that it fell upon us like 
a thunder-bolt ; we all set to work in the clothes we 
had on, and ever since we have been wearing out 
our old stock. The only Frenchwoman I have 

40 



Dry " Washington 



heard of as having a rank — that of corporal — in 
our army won it on the battle-field, but she does not 
wear a uniform. That distinction we leave to the 
warriors. 

It was only on the day we decided to go to the 
States that my sister and I ordered a few new 
dresses. We wished to keep up the Parisian repu- 
tation of elegance ; and, also, we consider that when 
one goes to a foreign country, the first quality re- 
quired is adaptability. As we heard that the 
American women were wearing grand decollete in 
the evening, which we have not done in Paris since 
the war broke out, we decided to dress likewise, 
although in dark colors. 

The house in which Monsieur Tardieu lived, as 
did also two other important members of the 
French High Commission, is situated on S Street. 
It was called the " House of the Bachelors," not- 
withstanding the fact that two of the inhabitants 
are married, though their wives were in France 
doing war work. The name is probably due to the 
circumstance that these men lived together without 
the presence of any ladies. 

All the American women we met there that even- 
ing were fjretty and nice looking. They wore lovely 
and most becoming dresses of handsome materials, 
such as we have not seen in Paris since before the 
war, and the bright and gay colors of their clothes 
gave great pleasure to our eyes. 

41 



A Frenchwoman s I m prcssions of America 

As soou as the last guest arrived the bntler came 
in with jilasses on a tray, which he presented 
to each one of ns. 

^'What is this, :Monsienr Tardien?'' 

" Why, INfadaine, don't you know this American 
custom which assures the success of any dinner- 
party? " 

I tasted it and understood that I had just made 
the acquaint ance of the cocktail. 

"Do you mean (o say that this is considered a 
j^ood drink? Frankly, I cannot understand its 
world-wide reputation/' Then looking- at my 
sister, I saw that her face betrayed no enthusiasm, 
either. 

'' Wait, IMadame, and you Avill tell me later what 
you really think about it," said Monsieur Tardieu, 
with a knowing- look. 

We then passed to the dining-room, and an 
intense feeling of happiness, mingled with in- 
ditt'erence to what I said or did, gradually 
grew upon me, and all the other guests were 
evidently equally well disposed toward the 
world. The conversation was animated, in fact, 
very brilliant, and when ^lonsieur Tardieu, next 
to whom I was seated, asked : " Now what do 
you think about the cocktail?" I felt more in- 
clined to get up and dance than to give him a 
serious answer. 

" The taste is certainly not nice, although I shall 

42 



Dry '' IVashinr/ton 



Koon become aecuHtomed to it, I am Hure, but the 
efl'eet is unmiHtakable! Life ban never seemed to 
me more engaj^ing and enjoyable." 

My neighbor on the other wide then asked: 

"Do you know that Washington is a dry city 
and that for many months now we have n't been 
able to get any wine or liquor? We are living on 
old stock, and when that gives out, we '11 have no 
more cocktails to offer to our guests." 

" Is there any way of getting over that? " asked 
my sister, with mischievous intent. 

"One can always break any law, you know, and 
if you want a suggestion, I can give you a fairly 
good one." 

" Then we are listening with both our ears I " ex- 
claimed my sister and T together. 

" You have perhaps already been told that alcohol 
is particularly recommended for snake bite. You 
can therefore easily imagine how popular snakes 
have become in the dry states, where liquor is for- 
bidden except on a medical prescription. Many 
people are now in search of the snake, which has 
become a most fashionable pet. I was told the other 
day that here in Washington an indignant tee- 
totaler went to the director of the zoo and asked 
him if he had a serpent for hire. 

" ^ I can't oblige you, sir, I 'm sorry to say, as 
the serpent we let out on hire is still engaged for 
ten days ! ' " 

43 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

By that time the dinner was over, and Monsieur 
Tardieu said to me: 

" I fear that you have come to America at an 
unfavorable moment, for the Liberty Loan drive 
has been on now for a week. It will last a fort- 
night longer and the American Government would 
certainly look on you with an unfavorable eye 
were you to ask for funds during this campaign." 

" Then what do you advise me to do? '^ I asked. 

After a moment's reflection Monsieur Tardieu 
said, " To speak for the Liberty Loan.'' 

We agreed, and the following morning the 

Marquis de X , a friend from France who was 

then on the High Commission, took us to the Treas- 
ury Department, where we met Mr. Horner, the 
Director of the Speakers' Bureau. 

And so it was arranged that for the next fort- 
night I was to work for his organization, speaking 
in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and the vicini- 
ties of these cities, for the Third Liberty Loan drive. 

We lunched with our friend the Marquis de 

X and his lovely American wife at their house, 

and there we met Mr. George Creel, chairman of 
the Government's Committtee on Public Informa- 
tion, and he suggested that, whenever we might 
wish for it, he had work for us to do. 

The first lecture arranged for me by the Amer- 
ican Committee for Devastated France was at 
Forest Glen Seminary, in Maryland. The wife of 

44 



Dry " Washington 



the director came to fetch us in a comfortable 
motor-car (the motor-cars are "frightfully'' com- 
fortable in America ! ) and we drove through Rock 
Creek Park. Never before had we seen a more 
picturesque sight. Washingtonians have let this 
park grow wild, without grooming it as Americans 
are tempted to do with everything under the sky 
— nature or themselves, specially. The creek to 
which the park owes its name is a noisy rivulet 
which we crossed several times at different points. 
The car simply dashed into the water, making a 
" splashy-bubbly " noise most refreshing to the ear 
in hot weather. 

Forest Glen Seminary is a school for wealthy 
girls, who come from even the most remote states 
in the Union to complete their education and study 
art, languages, and all kinds of sports, besides all 
the boresome things that make one seem clever, 
like arithmetic, natural history, etc. 

We have nothing at all like this for French girls. 
In my country girls remain at home, and have a 
governess to accompany them everywhere, as they 
may never go out alone until they get married. The 
war, it is true, has somewhat lessened the severity 
of this rule, and I don't know what further modifi- 
cations it may introduce into our customs later. 
Our young girls attend classes, in which they study 
strenuously, until they are sixteen. At that age 
they often pass an examination and for two years 

45 



A Frctichtcojnans Imprcss^ions of America 

loiigoi' tlu\v continuo their oduoation, which oom- 
prisos fewer sports than in America but, I believe, 
more literature and art. 

ATheu they are eiiihteen they <::ive up most of 
their studies and make their debut in society life. 
This consists of p>inii- to the opera and attending: 
balls at which their mothers chaperon them, sitting 
in the adjoining drawing-rooms and endeavoring 
all the while to secure chairs in the doorway, from 
which they can keep atieetiouate eyes ou their 
daughters. 

Parents in France have but one idea and that 
is to marry otf their daughtei'S as soon as possible; 
and so they look out for some eligible partner as 
soon as the girls are eighteen. Some men are con- 
sidered, as elsewhere the world over, to be real 
" catches," with this ditference, that in France they 
are run after by the uu>thers and not by the daugh- 
ters, as is the case in xVnglo-Saxon countries. When 
the mothers have successfully established their own 
otfspring in life, they endeavor to marry otf the 
daughters of their friends, often turning into most 
enthusiastic match-makers. I knew a lady who, 
when she was interested in a young girl, would 
open in a haphazard way a social register and look 
up the name of a possible husband. Then, should 
it prove a lucky inspiration, she would bring the 
young people together; and it happened that some 

46 



Dry '* Wa.shinf/ton 



vory IJiippy match OH want })rought about in this 
way! 

Ih n't marriaj^e a lottery, after all? I Huppo8f3 
all thin munt Heeni to American mindH ponitively 
antediluvian ! 

Naturally, I am spc^akin^ of what happened he- 
fore 1914, aw thei'e has been no social life whatever 
.since, all the womcin havinj^ enj^aged in war work, 
pnncipally as nurses in hospitals. This has prob- 
ably tended to increase the number of romances, 
and there have been many cases where young girls 
hav(i married one of the wounded men they were 
nursing, or where a soldier has become engaged to 
his war godmother, called by us a marraine de 
guerre. 

Forest Glen is well situated in the woods and is 
composed of a number of villa buildings. After 
dinner we walked along a concrete path leading to 
a Grecian-looking temple, the school theater. In 
this there are several boxes, an upper gallery, and 
a fairly large stage — just a dream of a theater, 
well decorated and yet perfectly simple. The girls 
were all attired in light-colored evening dresses 
and I had spread out before my gaze a real parterre 
of bright and fresh-looking flowers. 

American girls have an extraordinarily youth- 
ful appearance, added to a matured decision in 
their attitude, as if they always knew without any 

47 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

hesitation what they were going to do or say next. 
Some of the girls in my audience were knitting 
away at socks for the Red Cross, with the zeal that 
people in America are apt to show in everything 
they undertake. I can still see the energy with 
which they made their needles dance up and down. 
They listened, also, wdth the same intentness. 
Never before in any country had I met with a better 
audience. At times tears rolled down those velvety 
cheeks, and again I heard merry peals of laughter, 
according to the subject. There was in the room 
an atmosphere of youthful vitality and enthusiasm 
that would have made a speaker of a mute. 

When my speech w^as over several of the girls 
belonging to one of the school's many clubs, called 
by a Greek name, enthusiastically proposed to be- 
come sponsors of one of the French devastated vil- 
lages, for Which they would collect contributions 
from their members. This idea I thought charm- 
ing, and I was touched to see how America's young 
generation generously responds to noble impulses 
of the heart. 

"All the girls here do their bit for the war," ex- 
plained one of the directresses — a tall, slim, hand- 
some young woman with a mass of lovely reddish- 
gold hair — " and lately they have had a new idea 
for raising funds. As you probably have already 
noticed, every time you have your shoes cleaned 
in America, you pay fifteen cents to the boot-cleaner. 

48 



Dry'' Washington 



Well, here the girls have decided that they will 
save this small sum daily and, instead of having 
the servants do that work, they patriotically polish 
one another's shoes in order to give the fifteen cents 
to the Red Cross.'' 

When I calculated (you cannot help counting 
everything in America!) what sum this would make 
at the end of the nine months of the school year, I 
was amazed to find that the contribution for the 
Red Cross would amount to a minimum of twelve 
thousand, four hundred and forty-five dollars. 

" You probably will also be interested to hear," 
added the directress, " that the school has started 
a drilling-class for the girls. We have an officer 
who comes several times a week to teach them to 
shoot and to dig trenches, and put them through 
the soldier's ordinary military training. This offi- 
cer also gives them a general idea of modern war- 
fare. At night two girls volunteer to remain on 
guard in the trenches. As there are no tramps in 
this part of Maryland, this practice is an excellent 
one for learning self-control without incurring any 

There is no doubt that in this country girls seem 
to combine a perfect feminine appearance with the 
masculine temperament. 

We were lucky enough to be able to secure a 
stateroom on the train for New York, though we 
had been told that since America had entered the 

49 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

war many of the trains de luxe had been suppressed, 
despite the increasing number of travelers on this 
line. 

Another surprise awaiting us was the discovery 
of ice-water in the dressing-room. I think Ameri- 
cans must certainly have a miniature Vesuvius 
within, w^hich they are constantly obliged to ex- 
tinguish with ice-water. In the hotels, when we 
ordered coffee for our breakfast, a glass of ice- 
water invariably appeared first on the table. Even 
in the middle of the afternoon we were sometimes 
offered as a great delicacy a glass of cold water. 

In France water is the last beverage we should 
think of oft'ering our guests ; we should offer them 
tea. Perhaps, unlike Americans, we have small 
icebergs hidden away in our interiors. 



50 



CHAPTER V 

AMERICAN HOSPITALITY 

THE Vanflerhilt aj^^ain ! We arrived early 
in the morning and found a pile of letters 
awaiting our return. These were all in- 
vitations from various persons in New York, to 
whom we had letters of introduction sent on before 
leaving for Washington. 

Hospitality in America is overwhelming. One 
might easily imagine that the Americans have 
nothing to do but entertain foreigners ; and yet we 
know they are busy people. In fact, I had never 
met any human beings giving the impression of 
having so much to do in a single day. They receive 
one with such great amiability that one perforce 
forgets their general reputation of considering time 
as money. They lavished their time on us until we 
found them adorable. 

That morning we lunched at the Colony Club 
with Miss X , one of the members of the Amer- 
ican Committee for Devastated France, who had 
invited a number of her friends to meet us. We 
had never before set foot in a woman's club. So 

51 



A Frcnclncomans Impressions of America 

this one was docitloilly a novelty to us. There is 
but one clnb of this kind in Paris; it counts but a 
small number of members and personally Ave do not 
belong to it. Women's clubs have no success in our 
Latin countries, as it is thought that they keep 
women too much from their luunes. 

I was interested in getting acquainted with the 
Americans' attitude and wished to grasp their idea 
of life, which seems to me conceived on another 
scale, probably more modern than our own, based 
as ours is on much tradition. 

This club is certainly ideal for those who feel the 
necessity of belonging to it. We met at the lunch- 
eon many New Yorkers and were confirmed in our 
opinion that the women of the new continent have 
nothing to envy their European sisters. They are 
witty in their conversation, appear to brilliant ad- 
vantage, and give themselves the same trouble to 
please one another as we take to please men. It 
seemed really very odd to see all these " hen par- 
ties '• ; they do not exist in France, for the men, 
even those who are the most deeply engrossed in 
their business, always come home to lunch wdth 
their wives. 

The food and the drink are excellent (we swal- 
lowed a ^' Bronx!"), but naturally some things 
appeared rather quaint to us. First of all, we 
had placed in front of our plates a small dish of 
salted almonds and nuts, which were delicious, and 

52 



Arnxrican Hospitality 



which we were supposed to ni?jble at all through the 
meal ; then on the left-haiKl there was a plate with 
a little knife, for the butter and the bread. Nobody 
ate any but war-bread, and in no house to which we 
were invited did the mistress fail to exclaim as we 
sat down at the table, " I am strictly Hooverish." 
We were to understand by this that the bread con- 
tained the exact amount of wheat allowed by Mr. 
Hoover, the great food administrator. We were 
offered substitutes of all kinds, which we had never 
tasted before, including rice-bread and corn-bread, 
wliich is very good, but crumbles to pieces almost 
from being looked at. 

There was yet another thing that astonished us : 
we had to eat so many different courses on the same 
plate — meat with sauce, then sjunach, beans, corn, 
potatoes. These you make up into separate little 
heaps, and you are finally puzzled to know which 
to try first ! The salad, also, is quite different from 
ours at home. It is eaten with a small piece of 
cheese, a special kind of jam, and a little salt bis- 
cuit. This sounds very odd to French people, but 
1 thought it perfect, and I only wish they would 
adopt this custom in France, as well as the cock- 
tails. 

For people preferring a lively life ours in Amer- 
ica would have been perfect. Day was invariably 
ushered in for us by the ringing of the telephone. 
It woke us up, and from then on my sister, while 

53 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

in our rooms, scarcely ever left its vicinity, and I 
would hear: 

" Reporter of what paper? — Impossible to see 
you now. Can you come later? " 

Frew, frewj frit! At this unusual sound I turned 
around and saw our letters pushed in from under 
the door. While I was reading them the telephone 
rang again. 

" Yes, we have already been photographed,'^ etc. 
" Good-by. Thank you." 

I gave the letters to my sister, who attended to 
all the secretarial work. She sat down to answer 
them, but hardly had she taken up her pen to write, 

" Dear Mrs. : We are so sorry," when again 

the 'phone rang. 

" Oh, it 's you. Miss X . Very well ; then 

you are coming to fetch us at eleven o'clock? " 

Another attempt at the letter — '' not to be able 
to accept your kind — " Dring, dring, dring! The 
telephone again! 

Frew, frew, frit! More letters were thrust under 
the door. Many of these were invitations for lunch- 
eon next day. I read and passed them to my 
sister, so that I might go into the bedroom to try 
to finish dressing, and — there were more letters 
half-way under the door — more invitations for 
luncheon next day ! I read them and passed them 
to my sister. 

" But what will become of us to-morrow, my 

54 



American Hospitality 



dear," she exclaimed, " if we are to eat all these 
meals? " 

We were overwhelmed by the vast proportions 
of American hospitality. " Telephone, telephone, 
when will you stop?" was my constant wail. 

"Hello! — All right. Thank you." The car 
was already waiting, and we had n't even break- 
fasted! And this was considered a typical New 
York morning! 

We dined out that evening, and were Invited 
afterwards to the Metropolitan Opera House. As 
the motor-car took us through the streets we were 
fairly dazzled by all the lights, the more so because 
we were no longer accustomed to such brilliant 
illuminations. For months — nay, years — as soon 
as the sun disappeared behind the horizon, Paris 
had been plunged into darkness. Not a single 
streak of light was to be seen through the windows ; 
few street-lamps were lit, one or two in each street, 
and as soon as an air raid was announced these 
were extinguished. Here, in New York, every 
effort was made to remind one of the Third Liberty 
Loan. Huge luminous posters, scintillating with 
inscriptions, urged the passer-by to subscribe. The 
city was lit up as for a royal reception; it seemed 
to be offering a gorgeous fete to its inhabitants. 

I was told that in the daytime some of the most 
famous singers in the city — Geraldine Farrar, 
Caruso, Muratore, and others — sang in the open 

55 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

air to attract the crowds. Then speakers would 
address the mass of people and the subscriptions 
would be taken by elegant women who devoted their 
time and their energy to this patriotic work. 

The Spanish singer Barrientos, who has a world- 
wide reputation and whom we had often the pleas 
ure of applauding in Paris, sang that night at the 
Metropolitan in Rossini's " Barbiere de Siviglia." 
The sight of this opera-house, all illuminated as it 
was, and filled with handsome women in low-necked 
gowns and men in full dress, made me feel at least 
three years younger. In our Parisian theaters the 
house was almost in complete darkness, the stage 
alone being well lighted. 

Even in our private houses we lived in compara- 
tive darkness, owing to the fact that fuel must be 
saved for the war factories. Light was rationed 
and we had to take great care not to burn more than 
the amount of gas and electricity allowed in the 
household, for fear of having to do entirely with- 
out for a whole week, the penalty inflicted on those 
who squandered. 

We were lunching out, dining out, spending the 
entire day rushing about wildly in feverish excite- 
ment. It would have been perfectly impossible to 
rest quietly in our sitting-room. New York streets 
have an irresistible attraction possessed by no 
streets anywhere in Europe. In America the worst 
mishap that can befall one is to miss something. 

56 



American Hospitality 



Americans all seem to have the faculty of being 
everywhere at once. 

I talked at the Colony Club one Sunday afternoon 
at half -past three o'clock, with the lights turned 
on. A fashionable gathering of men and women 
crowded the big reception hall, and people were 
even standing in the doorways. In America the 
speaker always goes up on the platform empty- 
handed and stands in full view of the audience. 
No one would ever attempt to give an address sit- 
ting, as is usual in Europe, reading notes from be- 
hind a table on which stand a decanter of water 
and a glass. The public is so indulgent in America, 
that extemporaneous speaking is easy. People 
never expect speakers to quote what some one else 
thought in the fifteenth century, but they are anx- 
ious to know all about the personal experiences of 
those they are listening to. This induces the lec- 
turer to use the magical " I did,'' " I saw," " I will 
tell you," which have a magnetic influence over 
crowds in this country, where audiences have the 
rare quality of sensitiveness and an amazing facil- 
ity in seeing a joke almost before it is uttered. 

The next day I received the following letter from 
the editorial rooms of one of the principal maga- 
zines of New York: 

Dear Countess de Bryas: 

When several ladies asked me what I thought of your ad- 
dress, I said that so far as I could see it had but one fault: 

57 



A Frenclixi)oman' s Impressions of America 

namely, that your Enc:lish was too g^ood. You made just one 
error in pronunciation and one in grammar. I was afraid 
you were not going to make any, and when, toward the end of 
your speech, you said distri^i^ted I involuntarily exclaimed, 
"God bless you!" Thereupon you followed it with "woken 
up." I want to add an expression of my hope that you will 
— if you can — be not so perfect in our language ! There 
is a certain human appeal in a foreigner's speech in one's 
own language which is never attained by " one of ourselves." 
Of course 1 agree that French and American people ought to 
be — as they are — so united in a common work that to each 
the language of the other will become easier and easier. I 
cannot fancy any one of us, however, speaking Pi^ench so 
spontaneously and idiomatically as you spoke English yester- 
day. 1 cannot but feel that your address might have an even 
humaner appeal, if you would only make some little mis- 
take on purpose, now and then ! 

I have never felt so flattered in my entire life. 
When I think that my dear father does not know 
a word of En<>lisli, and that my English is purely 
Parisian! Nevertheless, as the hint was a good 
one, I never altered my error during my tour and 
always said " distri6//ted '' and " woken up,'^ when- 
ever those words occurred to me. And I think I 
will keep on ^' distri?>//ting and " wokening up '■ all 
through life as a pleasant souvenir of America. 

One evening I dined seated next to Mr. Gerard. 
The dinner was given by friends, who have a lovely 
house, with a rare collection of Chinese screens and 
tables in lacquer. It was the first house we had 
seen so far in New York furnished with so many 

58 



American Hospitality 



Chinese works oi' art, ^^''hich have been the furor 
in Paris since the war. The fonner American 
Ambassador to I>erlin is very entertaining in his 
conversation about the kaiser, and he advised me 
to see the film made from his remarkable book, 
^' My Four Years in Germany/' 

" In some parts of the film," he explained, " the 
kaiser really api)ears on the screen, but naturally 
the action part of the drama is played by an actor 
who imi)ersonates the emperor." 

Some friends took us to see Wall Street and the 
" curb market " in Broad Street, near by. The 
market is one of the funniest sights in the world — 
a real I>abel of confusion. Men in the street shout 
as if their very lives depended on the volume of noise 
they produce, and Americans have no humming-bee 
voices! They shout to other men who are looking 
on from the windows of adjoining buildings; their 
bodies protruding so far out in their excitement, 
that they look like creatures who are indejiendent 
of the laws of gravitation. 

When the men in the street have tried in vain, 
in all the notes of the scale, to make themselves 
heard by their window accomplices, they try move- 
ments of the hands, arms, head and legs for com- 
municating information, in the nautical style of 
language ! Never in my whole life had I seen any 
such wild gesticulating — a regular St. Vitus's 
dance en masse. 

59 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

I always thought that being a business man meant 
remaining quietly seated in a comfortable arm- 
chair, but then I realized that nothing so inactive 
could ever please an American, and that, therefore, 
out-of-door exercise has been introduced as part of 
the game. Stock-broking is almost as agile a fol- 
lowing as base-ball. 

After that we went through New Street, where 
the houses so nearly scrape the sky that walking 
there seems like walking in a canyon. In the street, 
which forms the hollow of the gorge, it is dark and 
depressing. The wind, held captive between the 
high walls of masonry, blows wdldly, and revenges 
itself on the feminine sex almost as much as it does 
in front of the Flat-iron Building. Indeed, its 
antics are very amusing to others, much less to 
oneself, when one happens to be a woman. It is 
true that : 

The devil sends the wicked wind 
That sends our skirts knee-high, 
But God is just and sends the dust 
That gets in the bad man's eye. 

Fortunately, it was a very dusty morning. 

Afterward we visited the " Cathedral of Com- 
merce,'' which we admired when we sailed into 
New York Harbor. It is a most exquisite piece of 
Gothic architecture, and its perfectly straight and 
pure lines reminded me of the interior of the cathe- 

60 



American Hospitality 



dral of Leon in Spain. This Woolworth Building 
is a city in itself, sixty stories high. Twelve thou- 
sand people work daily in its offices. I have read 
somewhere that the top part of the sky-scraper al- 
ways oscillates, and no wonder. 

Men in this country take their hats off most 
politely when they happen to meet women in ele- 
vators. But this custom does not extend to all 
parts of the town. In New York, the same man 
who will remove his hat in the elevator at the Plaza, 
the Vanderbilt, the Ritz, or the Biltmore, as a sign 
of deference to womanhood, will keep it on when 
he is '' downtown " — that business realm of the city 
that he considers his own particular kingdom. 

We were astonished, therefore, to see all the men 
keep their hats on as we set foot in the " express 
elevator ^' of the Woolworth Building, which shot 
us up past innumerable floors without a stop. 
When we came down, after having admired the 
wonderful panoramic view of New York, we heard 
a great noise of air rushing between the elevator 
itself and its steel shaft. We were told that this 
was the result of a clever idea of the architect, an 
ingenious arrangement of air-cushions which would 
uphold the elevator in case of accident. 

An experiment, it seems, had been tried and the 
elevator was loaded with a seven-thousand-ton 
weight and a glass of water filled to the brim ; then 
the cables were removed and the cargo was dropped 

61 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

through space from the forty-fifth floor ! It is easy 
to imagine what a horrible smash-up there would 
have been had the experiment failed ; but the seven 
thousand tons came down perfectly smoothly, owing 
to the resistance of the air, and when the elevator 
reached the ground floor, not a drop of water had 
been spilled from the glass. 

As I was told this reassuring story my eyes rested 
on two mammoth women who were going down with 
us, and so great was my feeling of security that it 
was not at all alf ected by this sight. What wonder- 
ful things we do hear in America! 



62 



CHAPTER VI 

SPEAKING FOR THE THIRD LIBERTY LOAN 

FROM this (lay on until tlio end of the Liberty 
Loan drive we were under the orders of the 
Treasury Department of Washington. The 
first city to which we were sent was Boston, but as 
we did not know in the least what the committee's 
plans were, we had not the slightest idea whether 
we were to remain there for one lecture only or for 
several days. 

We left by the one o'clock train and much en- 
joyed the comfortable seats of the " i)arlor-car/' 
which is an unknown luxury in our country. As 
we settled down we ventured a few joking remarks 
to the colored porter, having already realized, on 
the other trains, the negro's keen sense of humor 
We were immediately rewarded by the sight of two 
rows of perfectly white teeth smiling at us to the 
accompaniment of a twinkle in the eye. I suppose 
it is due to the contrast of the black and the white 
that their teeth seem much whiter than those of 
the people of our own race. 

As regards the colored porters I should like to 
say here what a blessing I consider their color is 

63 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

to them, for they are the only travelers on the traic 
who to all appearance remain unsullied by the 
smoke and the dust. Truly, nature seems to have 
created them specially for their work, and what a 
boon they are! 

In France, once the traveler is settled in his com- 
partment, no one comes to look out for him. In 
America the porter not only takes you to your seat 
and settles you down comfortably into it, but is 
every ready with many other little services, such, 
for instance, as bringing you a paper bag in which 
to put your hat. For the American w^omen take 
their hats off when in the train, letting their hair 
get all the dust and carefully protecting their hats. 
Perhaps the time may not be far distant when 
Americans, who are such clean and hygienic people, 
will also give travelers paper bags to put on their 
heads. 

Well, once comfortably settled down, one can 
either sleep or abandon oneself to reading, knowing 
that the smiling colored man will be sure to come 
in time to prepare one for the arrival. Porters 
seem especially endowed with marvelous memories 
and never by any chance let you pass your destina- 
tion. Then before you get out of the car they brush 
your dress, rub the dust off your shoes, clean up 
your hand-luggage, and help you generally to look 
your best. In fact, one might go straight to a party 
on getting out of the train and feel perfectly assured 

64 



Speaking for the Third Liberty Loan 



that one's dress was quite right and one's hat and 
shoes quite free from dust. 

We were met at the station by the chairman of 
the Boston Women's Liberty Loan Committee and 
told on the way to the hotel that we were expected 
to remain in Boston several days. Whereupon we 
remembered the ex-governor's kind invitation, and 
from the hotel my sister called him up on the tele- 
phone. 

'' Why, what are you doing at that hotel, you 
independent women ! On the boat I invited you to 
my house." 

So we moved our quarters to his home and I im- 
mediately sent word to my mother, saying: " I am 
writing to you from the house of a bachelor, with 
whom we are staying here in Boston. Don't be 
startled, it is very comme il faut in this part of the 
globe for two young women to stay at a gentleman's 
house, though an impossible and unheard-of pro- 
ceeding in France." 

If only my relatives could have seen us in those 
days they would have been in fits of laughter and 
thought nothing on earth more entertaining than 
the " job " I had taken up ! Every day brought me 
fresh surprises, and circumstances made me do 
things that even in my wildest dreams I had never 
pictured myself doing. 

I was taken from the stage of a theater to the 
pulpit of a Methodist Church, from which solemn 

65 



A Frcnchxvoman's Impressions of America 

and emiuoutlj ecclesiastical position I talked to the 
congregation. My sister told uie afterward she im- 
agined the astonishment and amazement that would 
have been expressed on the faces of our friends 
abroad had they seen a w^oman and, above all, a 
friend of theirs speaking at a religions gathering 
in onr country; for in our Catholic churches in 
l*aris women are not even authorized to sing as 
soloists. 

The next day it was perched on the table of one 
of the most important shops of the town, something 
like the Bon March^ in Pans, that I addressed the 
crowd of purchasers and salespeople, at least eight 
hundred persons, and urged them to subscribe to 
the loan. 

I was "scheduled" (this is the American word 
for " appointed '• ) to speak twice a day, one lecture 
being in Boston, and the other in a neighboring 
town such as Georgetown, Newton or Worcester. 

Those four days spent in Massachusetts, going 
from one set of people to another, seeing both the 
poor and the rich, the working-classes as well as the 
intellectuals, showed me that there was still great 
need of Allied propaganda to counteract the influ- 
ence exercised by the Germans. The United States 
is a diflicult country to manage; many and various 
problems seem to arise at each step, and I marveled 
greatly at the power that commands it all. I was 
told that this war is making out of the inhabitants 



Speaking for the Third Liberty Loan 

of thfi Uriitod StatoH the American Nation; through 
it, unity is Iming created. It is ])ringing together 
under the same flag the various nationalities of 
which the country is composed, but which up to the 
present had lived independently in tliis hospitable 
land, which ever welcomes adventurous spirits. 

Nothing was of greater interest to us than the 
way in which the Third Liberty Loan drive was 
conducted here. One thing worth mentioning was 
the organization known as the " Four-Minute Men.'^ 
Its members worked with incessant activity and 
patriotism for their country. They had thirty-one 
thousand members. 

In each town a committee was formed called 
" The Four-Minute-Men Organization," composed 
of volunteer speakers who gave their services to 
the government for the duration of the war. They 
partly gave up their business and devoted their time 
and their energy to speaking wherever it was judged 
necessary to be in touch with the masses. 

They were then speaking for the Liberty Loan 
and when that loan was fully subscribed they un- 
dertook another campaign on behalf of the Red 
Cross, after w^hich it was to be for the War-Savings 
Stamps, and the War Chest. In America, public 
opinion is formed largely through speech-making 
and personal contact with the people. I have seen 
nowhere else such eager listeners, always anxious 
to hear and understand what those recognized as 

67 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 



capable of giving out information have to tell them. 

I don't know how this educational method would 
take in my own country, but it would be interesting 
to put it on trial, for it might give unexpectedly 
good results; although I wonder whether our la- 
boring classes would wish to listen to any speaker 
other than an advanced socialist. The press is the 
principal educator of the masses in France. 

In the United States during the war the Four- 
Minute Men were, I should say, almost the principal 
factors in the moulding of public opinion. Their 
speeches, although different in form, were founded 
on the same basis, the fundamental ideas coming 
from the one source. The Committee on Public In- 
formation at Washington. 

The members of the Four-Minute-Men Organiza- 
tion were liable to be sent anywhere, to any town 
where their services might be required. One saw 
them wherever one went while the loan drive was 
on — in hotels, theaters, shops, in the open air, at 
factories. They are requested to speak during four 
minutes only, as their name implies. But imagine 
how impossible for a patriotic human speaker fac- 
ing an eager public and with no one to call, " time 's 
up," limiting himself conscientiously to the two 
hundred and forty seconds! 

I myself must confess to having failed, although 
one evening I was nearly a " four-minute woman," 
and missed it only by three little minutes, and 



Speaking for the Third Liberty Loan 

proud indeed I was ! This is how it happened : It 
was in a theater, and I, with another speaker, had 
been asked to speak from the stage between the acts. 
We had made a bet as to which of us could make 
the shorter speech, limiting it if possible to the 
required four minutes. The other speaker, being 
a man, certainly thought he would win; for, re- 
membering woman's reputation as a talker, he felt 
sure I was incapable of stopping in time. How- 
ever, I had the happy surprise of winning, speaking 
only seven minutes, whereas he talked for twelve. 

Monsieur Tardieu telegraphed, asking us to be 
present at a big meeting in New York in order that 
I might speak with him for the loan. We dined 
with him at the Plaza, at a very big dinner-party 
given by the French colony of New York. My 
sister and I were the only women present, and I 
was completely ignorant of what was expected of 
me in the way of a speech. 

" You are to speak in French to-night, I hear," 
my neighbor told me confidentially. " I suppose it 
is to be done as a surprise, and I am delighted, for 
a part of your audience will be composed of your 
own country-people." 

" In French ! " I exclaimed. " Why that is the 
first news I have had of it ! " 

A stately and delightful elderly gentleman, who 
looked as if he certainly held a very important posi- 
tion in life ( what we call in French a " big bonnet " 

69 



A Fi^enchwoman s Impressions of America 

or a " fat vegetable," and you " a big gun,-' I be- 
lieve) , spoke to me across the table : 

" I am very glad to hear you are speaking in 
English to-night, for otherwise a part of your audi- 
ence would not understand." 

And turning to my neighbor, who had heard this 
remark, I suggested : 

" Well, don't you think I had perhaps better try 
Esperanto or Volapuc? " 

Monsieur Tardieu and I decided to speak in both 
English and French, so that all might be satisfied. 

The meeting was held in a crowded hall, and I 
could see the boxes in the gallery filled with people. 
The speakers of the evening and the members of the 
French colony took seats on the platform; but my 
sister — who is, I may say, of a somewhat retiring 
nature — went into one of the boxes and was much 
amused when the lady next her, to whom she had 
been introduced, suddenly remarked : 

" I w^onder what that girl is doing, sitting on 
the platform all alone with all those men I " 

*^ It is my sister, and she is going to address the 
meeting." 

" Oh ! " exclaimed the lady, seizing her opera- 
glasses at once. 

Mr. Myron Herrick, whom I had known as a most 
brilliant ambassador in Paris, and who gave such 
striking proofs of his moral courage during the 
memorable days that preceded the great battle of 

70 



Speaking for the Third Liberty Loan 

the Marne, was the first speaker; and he won the 
hearts of his hearers by his charm of manner. Mon- 
sieur Tardieu, who had studied English for only 
a year, was convincingly optimistic and carried the 
audience away with his absolute faith in victory. 
Then came a brilliant and witty American orator, 
and finally I spoke in both languages. 

Monsieur Tardieu, next whom I was seated, whis- 
pered to me: 

" I must take French leave and run off to make 
another speech for the loan, in a Methodist Church, 
and I will be back here in half an hour." 

During that time a group of ten or twelve Amer- 
ican soldiers, who had just returned from the front 
in France, were ushered upon the platform. The 
feelings of the crowd rose to the highest degree of 
enthusiasm and they applauded frantically. 

One soldier, a mere lad with a boyish and very 
engaging countenance, was pushed forward to the 
front of the platform, the public shouting to him, 
" Speak to us in French ! " He had evidently never 
been asked to make a speech before; and certainly 
his knowledge of French was very limited, which 
made his talk all the more amusing. The crowd 
was in fits of laughter, and he himself joined heart- 
ily in the general hilarity as he struggled with his 
words and ended by explaining in English that he 
was greatly indebted to Frenchwomen, as one of 
them had once given him a piece of soap at the 

71 



A Frenclixcomans Impressions of America 



front — ii gift that he was needing badly at the 
time and that he had cherished as the most precious 
thing in the world. 

Then a tall and magnetic-looking man mounted 
the platform while the soldiers were marching out. 
He had great talent for convincing his audience, 
and he ^^ as remarkable for the manner in which he 
could induce them to subscribe. 

" We want to get sixty thousand dollars to-night," 
he shouted; and for half an hour he never ceased 
talking, making jokes, telling stories, compliment- 
ing generous subscribers, until he had so dazzled 
the public by his brilliant personality that almost 
everybody in the room felt under a personal obliga- 
tion to please him and buy the bonds. When the 
thirty minutes were up he exclaimed triumphantly : 

" We have gone many times over the top to-night, 
and I have the pleasure of announcing subscriptions 
to the amount of two hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars." 

And, indeed, I felt as we drove back to the hotel 
that one million two hundred and fifty thousand 
francs would provide many munitions for the sol- 
diers in the trenches over there, and that the eve- 
ning had truly not been spent in vain ! 



72 



cnAPTi:R VII 

EXPERIENCES IN FACTORIES 

WE took the train for Philadelphia in the 
early morninj^, and as soon as we arrived 
there several representatives of the Men's 
Liberty Loan Committee, under whose orders the 
Treasury Department of Washington had x>iaced 
me during my stay in Pennsylvania, motored us 
to Chester. 

" You will give an open-air address to seven thou- 
sand workmen to-day at noon. Not only are these 
men making munitions, but the Chester plant has 
already sent over to France the biggest gun manu- 
factured so far in America, and is ready to send a 
second one in a few days." 

After an hour's drive we reached the plant and 
as noon had not yet struck, the director took us to 
visit various interesting sections of the factory. 
Then we were taken to a large open-air sjjace and 
asked to get up into a brightly decorated and artis- 
tic-looking stand, all covered with the flags of the 
Allies. 

A government official, three Canadian officers, 
and I were the speakers of the day. 

73 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 



" You will certainly receive a very warm recep- 
tion from our men," said the director. " They are 
wonderfully patriotic in their feelings, and this, I 
believe, is largely due to the influence we have ex- 
ercised over them by trying to teach them what the 
war realJy means to America. You will, I dare 
say, be astonished to hear that six months ago not 
one of these workers could sing the ' Star-Spangled 
Banner,' nor did they even know that America had 
a national anthem." 

As he was saying these words a bell rang, an- 
nouncing noon, and the factory band, composed 
exclusively of workmen belonging to the plant, 
marched forward and took its place beside the 
stand. Then the seven thousand men came flocking 
out from the adjoining buildings, and I could see 
their eager faces expectantly turned toward us. 

The band conductor through the megaphone in- 
vited every one to sing " God Save the King." We 
rose to our feet while it was played and sung, and 
the Canadian officers addressed the crowd in turns. 

Then the man with the megaphone announced the 
" Marseillaise " and it was my turn to speak. Never 
in my whole life had I experienced such profound 
emotion as at that moment. The seven thousand 
workmen went almost frantic in their cheering of 
my country; and stretching far away before me I 
could see eager and honest faces lit up by the great- 

74 



Experiences in Factories 



est enthusiasm. Some of the men sent their caps 
flying high up into the air ; others waved their little 
flags as a sign of rejoicing, while they all shouted, 
applauded, and whistled for fully three long min- 
utes, as I stood waiting to speak, with heart throb- 
bing — oh ! throbbing terribly hard, from emotion 
and true happiness! for I thoroughly understood 
the depth of feeling underlying this demonstration, 
and what it really meant for France in the very 
near future. 

Then I spoke from heart to heart with these men, 
not eloquently, by any means, but very simply, tell- 
ing them what was going on " over there," and 
urging them to work hard at the munitions that 
were to protect the lives of their own boys fighting 
in the trenches, and to help deliver the suffering 
ones in my country. 

After that the government official made a stirring 
and patriotic speech and every one of us sang the 
" Star-Spangled Banner '' at the end of the meeting. 

Then before I had time to leave the stand I heard 
the men shouting : " Don't go yet ! We must shake 
hands with you first," and they rushed forward to 
the platform. My sister and I bent over, and our 
hands and arms were clutched by innumerable 
hands grasping for ours. I think every one of 
those seven thousand workmen came up to shake 
hands with us. 

75 



A Frenchwoman s Impressions of America 

When I speak in public, I almost invariably 
take my gloves off, because I am sometimes fool- 
ishly tempted to think that in this way the contact 
between my public and myself is more quickly es- 
tablished — almost as though through the tips of 
the fingers. But at Chester I had forgotten to 
observe my usual custom. Some of the workmen 
had such perfect manners that they exclaimed 
apologetically : 

" We have spoiled your light gloves with our 
black hands ! Is n't it too bad ! '' 

" Why, I am more proud than I can say of the 
color you have given it," I replied gaily. " It will 
seem as if I, also, were making munitions for the 
boys.'' 

The director then took us to luncheon in the 
factory and as we sat down at the table he said to 
me : " May I formulate a wish expressed by my 
workmen? " 

" Pray do ! I am ready to do anything to prove 
my delight at having found such a marvelous audi- 
ence as the one I have addressed this morning." 

" Well, they have asked that you will part with 
your glove and give it to them. We will have a 
frame made for it and it will be hung in the place of 
honor in the factory as a souvenir of France." 

As can be imagined, I felt prouder than ever 
before in my life, I think, when I handed my glove 
to the director after having signed my name in- 

76 



Experiences in Factories 



side it, together with the signatures of my sister 
and the government official. 

" After luncheon," said the director, " we will 
ask you and your sister another favor, that of sign- 
ing your names on our big gun; for it will leave 
Chester in a few days, en route for the front, where 
I hope it will accomplish a bit of excellent work 
for France." 

The thought occurred to me that our host and his 
workmen resembled very closely in some of their 
manners the medieval knights of King Arthur^s 
Round Table! 

To be able to witness in France the sight of six 
thousand colored men and women gathered under 
one roof, we should have to organize a huge negro 
congress and have them come from Africa espe- 
cially for the great occasion. But over here, a 
Liberty Loan meeting is all that is required to 
afford such a dusky sight! 

One evening the chief of the Four-Minute 
Men, with another well-known speaker, came to 
fetch us to attend a colored meeting. When the 
motor-car stopped at the theater door, a dark crowd 
was gathered there, awaiting admission. A " cop," 
as the Americans call the policeman, came to es- 
cort us from the car to the entrance door of this 
moving-picture theater. 

Within^ six thousand colored people were already 

77 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

assembled. We sat with the speakers of the eve- 
ning, who were mostly colored men, two or three 
only being of our own race. 

The meeting opened by an invocation by a colored 
preacher. The reverent and profoundly religious 
attitude of this throng was most impressive. The 
colored band then played with a wild cadence that 
nearly made one jump to one's feet. Negro music 
generally affects me in the feet and the shoulders, 
giving me an intense desire to do a cake-walk. 
While this music was being played the room was 
momentarily lit up by the happy smiles of the 
negroes, who thoroughly enjoyed their band. 

" There is no difference between the colored 
troops and the white ones. They are all alike, and 
your boys are the best fighters of all ! '^ 

One of the speakers, turning to the band, ad- 
dressed them thus: "And when the Allies enter 
Berlin, it is you, the colored band, who will precede 
the troops, playing the march just heard, which 
will fill our boys with enthusiasm as they enter vic- 
toriously into the German capital.'' 

The enthusiasm aroused by these words was tre- 
mendous. The men applauded, and the women 
manifested their joy by the fluttering of their white 
handkerchiefs, waved in token of contentment and 
approval. 

Of the many places at which I was asked to speak 
during the Third Liberty Loan drive, none seemed 

78 



Experiences in Factories 



to me of greater interest than Hog Island, the larg- 
est shipyard in the world. 

Hog Island is situated outside Philadelphia and 
is of a marshy nature, which at the outset presented 
many difficulties to the establishment of a plant. 
Perfect miracles were accomplished, however, by 
the government's Shipping Board, and despite much 
criticism, the plant had grown in six months to the 
size of a large city, consisting of wooden buildings 
where twenty-three thousand men worked day and 
night. 

Before delivering the address we were taken to 
visit the Aquizconzaj the first ship to be launched. 
The ceremony took place a few months later in the 
presence of President Wilson. At the period of 
our visit the future vessel was in the rudimentary 
stage. All along the river innumerable sheds had 
been erected, roofing in the wooden nests in which 
the ships were soon to come into existence. 

The chief of the Secret Service was our guide, 
for we had been placed in his care. He took us 
to visit one of the four fire posts established on the 
plant. We found the firemen all equipped and 
ready to start with their engines at three minutes' 
notice in case the alarm were sounded. 

" Have you ever had a fire? '' I asked our guide. 

" No, not so far," was the answer. " But we 
have to be particularly careful, for notwithstanding 
the strictest surveillance, we might have German 

79 



A F re JicJnco man's Impressions of America 

agents introducing themselves here in the disguise 
of workmen and setting lire to the buildings, which, 
being nearly all made of wood, could quickly start 
a conflagration that would reduce Hog Island to 
ashes. 

" I w^ill now show you,'' he added, " by what 
means we guarantee the plant against such a dis- 
aster. Not only have we this equipment of firemen 
and engines, but the Shipping Board has introduced 
a new idea — that of building a tower from the 
summit of which it is an easy matter to survey the 
entire phuit — and if you don't mind climbing, I 
think it will interest you to go up." 

So we mounted into the tower by a spiral stair- 
case that led us to a platform lighted by a window; 
and here we found the guardian. 

We had to go still higher up to reach the summit 
of the tower, and the only means of access to this 
part was a ladder. Our guide, who was extremely 
nice and full of American thoughtfulness, preceded 
us in our ascension, telling the guardian meanwhile 
to look out at the window. When I had climbed 
almost to the top, I looked back and saw the good 
man with his face still glued to the panes, and the 
thought passed through my mind that a Frenchman 
w ould certainly never have obeyed the order as this 
guard had done ! 

Then from the open-air platform w^e had a com- 
plete view of Hog Island, stretching away for miles 

80 



Kxperiencen in Factories 



in every direction. From here the slightest sign 
of suspicious smoke could very easily be detected by 
a vigilant obseiTer. 

" Only two nights ago," said the chief of the 
Secret KService, " we discovered a German agent, 
who had surrounded one f>f our principal wooden 
buildings with straw, over which he had poured 
kerosene. We were fortunate enough to catch him 
just as he was lighting the match to carry out his 
infernal plot." 

" I suppose your police must be numerous? " I 
inquired. 

" Yes, but most of my men are disguised as la- 
borers, and no one suspects that they belong to my 
organization. This plant has twenty-three thou- 
sand workmen, and in the first six months of its 
existence, up to date, one hundred and twenty thou- 
sand laborers have worked here. This will give 
you an idea of our difficulties, and also of the ex- 
traordinary way in which our workmen in America 
shift from one plant to another in the hojie always 
of getting higher wages." 

Our guide called up the guardian and this time 
the two men followed us in our descent of the 
ladder. 

After that we were taken to the platform, situ- 
ated in the open air, from which I addressed several 
thousand workmen at noon, and I found them, like 
the audiences at Chester, most enthusiastic. 

81 



A Frenchwoman s Impressions of America 

Among the speakers was an English captain who 
had made his escape from Germany, where he had 
been a prisoner. He had a wonderful way of re- 
lating anecdotes, and when he finished his speech, 
the men called out to him : " We want another 
story ! " 

" Very well," said the clever Englishman. " I 
have another one that I know you would enjoy, but 
I will tell it only if twenty of you subscribe for 
more bonds." 

And in a flash twenty hands went up in the air. 

" And now the story, we want the story ! " shouted 
the crowd again, like children. 

And so the captain described in his most vivid 
manner how an American in the trenches had 
fought with a German soldier and killed him. 

" The American saw the Hun coming stealthily 
toward him, so he took off his coat and rolled up 
his shirt-sleeves as if he were going to play a game 
of baseball." And the captain took off his own coat 
and rolled up his sleeves by way of demonstration, 
the workmen gazing at him spellbound. 

" Then the American gave a big leap and bounded 
empty-handed over the parapet in this way ! " The 
captain gave a leap himself — without, however, 
jumping over the edge of the stand. 

By this time the crowd was gasping. 

" Then he rushed madly at the German, like a 
tiger, and caught him by the throat, holding him 

82 



Experiences in Factories 



tight, and tighter, and still tighter, his fingers dig- 
ging into the flesh and sinking deeper and deeper 
until. . . .'' The captain's hand shot out into 
space as if he were strangling the German, and as 
his fingers slowly closed on the imaginary throat, 
the workmen yelled with savage delight, some of 
them closing their eyes as if the better to enjoy an 
emotion that was stirring unsuspected depths in 
their natures. 

That day closed the Third Liberty Loan campaign 
and I learned afterwards that there was not a 
single man among the twenty-three thousand la- 
borers of Hog Island who had not subscribed for at 
least a fifty-dollar bond. 

Patriotism is blossoming like a vigorous plant 
on the new continent and not only in the souls of 
native Americans, but equally in the souls of 
those who emigrated only yesterday from the vari^ 
ous parts of the old world. 



83 



CHAPTER VIII 

OVER THE TOP 

THE Third Liberty Loan drive ended, and 
the United States was " over the top ! " 
Several billion dollars had been su'bscribed, 
and of this sum I am proud and delighted to have 
been the means of obtaining from subscribers one 
million dollars. 

" How high is the top? '' will probably be the 
question of my Parisian friends. " Never too high 
for the Americans to go over,'' I will answer. 
" They are capable of climbing any heights in such 
a cause, and if the Germans could but have thor- 
oughly realized this, they would that very day have 
laid down their arms and stopped the fight." 

All through the Union, every town had sub- 
scribed far beyond the quota assigned to it by the 
Treasury Department at Washington, and as soon 
as each city had reached the financial goal a liberty 
flag was hoisted as a public sign of recognition that 
its citizens had done their duty and were ready to 
surpass themselves in their patriotic efforts. 

In whatever they take up Americans always con- 
centrate all their energies on success. It is as 

84 



Over the Top 



though they looked upon every enterprise as a splen- 
did game to develop muscles or mental powers, as 
the case may be. The way they do a thing does not 
matter half so much as the result obtained. They 
mean to succeed and they almost invariably carry 
through even seemingly impossible plans by sheer 
force of will, allied to an indomitable self-confi- 
dence. And once they attain their goal, they make 
themselves a fresh one in order to attain fresh suc- 
cesses. The very essence of their natures is the 
love of struggle, and it makes them enter gladly 
into competition not only with one another, but 
also with themselves, in order to break their own 
records. 

I believe they are right ; we spend too much time 
perhaps in Europe thinking exclusively about the 
manner in which a thing is to be executed, rather 
than the result to be obtained; and after all it is 
results that control the world. 

In France public speaking is an art in itself, 
whereas here it is considered as the most rapid 
method of handling masses of people and educating 
them. The Liberty Loan campaigns are teaching 
the people to save money, a thing that was formerly 
not understood in the United States, that country 
where money is made and spent in one and the same 
breath. So a good Liberty Loan speaker may not 
be the one who makes the most finished speeches, 
but the one who gets the most money out of his 

85 



A Frenchxooman's Iniprcmons of America 

audience. As an example I relate the follow- 
ing-. 

At the moving-picture show which we attended 
one evening, a man mounted the platform and 
showed an obviously new straw hat and called out 
in a powerful voice: 

*' I just bought it to-day, and had hoped it would 
spend tlie summer with me. But for my country 
I am ready to separate myself from my new acquisi- 
tion. So for a thousand dollar bond, I will olfer 
you the diverting sight of the wilful destruction of 
my new hat. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I will 
stick my list right through it. Now [and he 
raised his voice louder than ever] who will sub- 
scribe for a thousand dollar bond? Who will give 
the thousand dollars? " 

" Five hundred dollars,'' called a voice. 

" No. I want the thousand dollars. I won't 
spoil my new hat for less. Come along now, a good 
bid. Who '11 give it? '^ 

"A thousand ! " shouted a nuTu's voice from the 
balcony. xVnd the speaker, Avith a happy smile, 
thrust his closed list vigorously through the crown 
of his straw hat, shooting it straight toward the 
generous subscriber. 

America was certainly becoming more and more 
wonderful to us. We had gone to a theater expect- 
ing to see the " movies " and, instead, we found a 
man inviting bids on his new hat and another giv- 

86 



Over the Top 

ing a small fortune juHt to enjoj the sight of its 
destruction. All this was eomic, though it was in- 
spired by true patriotic feeling. 

During the war a very large number of the 
women in the United States wore uniforms. Each 
town and each relief- work society had its particular 
uniform varying in color and design. Nothing was 
more puzzling for a European than to make out 
what they were intended to represent. I suggest 
that a guide book called the " W-U " or the 
" Women's Uniforms/' presented gratis to foreign- 
ers arriving in the United States, would certainly 
be of great help. A brief description and explana- 
tion of all the different uniforms is all that 
would be required for understanding what work 
these women are accomplishing. 

American women look yitvy smart and alert in 
their uniforms, having a particularly business-like 
appearance. At the first glance one feels sure that 
they carry out the work confided to them splen- 
didly, liut being myself a French woman, I must 
confess that I have no personal interest in women's 
unifor<ms and, generally speaking, we have not, ex- 
cept in the case of a limited number of Red Cross 
nurses, worn other than civilian clothes during the 
war. 

In Prance, a woman always looks unmistakably 
feminine. But in America it often happened that 
I could not make out to which sex the wearer of 

87 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

the uuiform belonged ; it became a sort of guessing 
game, a living puzzle. 

I remember one morning in the New York sub- 
way looking at two people standing up in a very 
crowded car. I could only see the upper part of 
these two khaki-clad travelers. One of them had 
apparently not followed the American fashion of 
wearing the hair cut away from the ears, the neck 
and the temples and I was criticising his hair as 
being a little too long for this new American fash- 
ion. His companion, whom I then took to be a 
blond, had hidden all her hair under her military 
cap. 

It happened shortly afterward that I found my- 
self standing close to this couple, and to my utter 
amazement, the " woman " had a man's voice, and 
the " man," a woman's. Yes that was it. The 
woman proved to be the man and the man the 
woman. 

The man was very young and perfectly clean- 
shaven, his smiling face looked childish and gentle, 
which accounted for my terrible blunder in taking 
him for a possible suffragette. This was a lesson 
for me and I made up my mind henceforth to wait 
until I heard people speak before classifying them. 

I suppose Christopher Columbus was as puzzled 
as I was then when he landed on the New Conti- 
nent, wondering which were the Indians and which 
were their wives. 

88 



Over the Top 



It is always interesting while traveling to meet 
the various celebratf^^l people who fill or have filled 
prominent positions in their country. And so we 
wer(i extremely pleased at receiving an invitation to 
the home; of Colonel and Mrs. Roosevelt. We had 
been given a letter of introduction to them, and 
they very channingly invited us to luncheon at 
Oyster Bay, their country place, an hour from 
New York. We went there by train and found 
their motor-car at the station. We drove along 
lovely roads to the ex- President's home. On our 
arrival the car door was opened by a smiling gentle- 
man of charming manners, and we soon recognised 
him as Colonel Roosevelt himself. 

We entered the house, which is built in the 
colonial style, and were greeted by Mrs. Roosevelt, 
who received us with the most delightful simplic- 
ity. Before luncheon we visited the grounds, from 
which we enjoyed a lovely view over the sound. 

The meal being strictly " Hooverized " was a 
short one, few dishes were served, and throughout 
it all we were entirely absorbed by Colonel Roose- 
velt's brilliant and animated conversation. 

After luncheon we admired the wonderful col- 
lection of animals shot by our host in Africa. The 
trophies decorate various rooms of the house and 
principally the big hall where the President and 
his family spend much of their time. 

Colonel Roosevelt showed us his precious and 

89 



A Frenchwoman s Impressions of America 

unique collection of autographed photographs, one 
signed by a world-known personage none other than 
Wilhelm II, German Emperor. 

We recollect that Colonel Roosevelt was received 
at Potsdam by the kaiser several years before the 
European conflict. The emperor entertained his 
guest with the greatest hospitality and invited him 
to 'be present at the review of the German troops. 
Photographs were taken of these two personages 
conversing together on horseback, and these are 
the ones we were shown at Oyster Bay. 

Wilhelm II presented the autographed photo- 
graphs to Colonel Roosevelt with a selection of in- 
timate thoughts written on the back of each one. 
Bethmann-Holweg, his famous chancellor, came 
the next morning to ask for his sovereign's gift to 
be returned. He evidently did not then seem to 
consider it a " scrap of paper," and he was very 
anxious to get it out of Colonel Roosevelt's pos- 
session on account of some of the very imprudent 
declarations made thereon. 

Colonel Roosevelt also showed us a caricature of 
himself and the kaiser that appeared in Punch. 
They are represented making faces at each other. 
Colonel Roosevelt is seen with a thin face and the 
kaiser's moustaches, whereas the latter has a round 
face and energetic jaw resembling that of the ex- 
President of the United States. 

A friend of Colonel Roosevelt, who was also a 

90 



Over the Top 



guest that day, read us those wonderful words on 
our dear beloved France written by the ex-President 
the previous year, and published separately on the 
fourteenth of July, " Bastille Day." 

They are certainly beautiful and heartfelt words, 
and I recall them with great emotion. 

France embodies all of loveliness and of valor. Beauty 
is her handmaiden, and strength her shield-bearer, and the 
shining courage of her daughters has matched the courage 
of her dauntless sons. For three and a half terrible years 
she has walked, high of heart, through the Valley of the 
Shadow. Her body is in torture, but her forehead is alight 
with the beauty of the morning. Never in history has there 
been such steadfast loyalty in the doing of dangerous duty, 
such devotion to country, such splendor of service and sacri- 
fice, and great shall be her reward — for she has saved the 
soul of the world. 



91 



c\\ wvvu w 

AMKKU AN laCM Uv\silV 

Ir wUh \ iM\s o\u^ oouUl soo tl\n>\iiih i\\o 
A\\iorio«ns» I vvhouM no( bi^ ^istouishrd if {\w\r 
ht^Uis wtmv foiu\\i tv> l>o L-n-^xM- than tlu>S(^ of 
iW iHvplo of othor «4Ui\M\s rn>viiioiuv hjus oor- 
t«h\h ondowtn! (hoiu with a iiwator phvsioal im* 
si^^nivMW. k\\o\viu)j: (hiU (hoir powtM- o( c\p\\'ss\o\\ 
\v\>uKl lvt> vsuivrior (o that of othor pt^^pUv V\>r 
tnilv, An\or\v\u\s stvn\ UtoraUv to hwish thoir 
Ut^U'ts wpou o\u\ poariw^ thorn forth f\>vlv j\»d vo( 
h«Yu\^ji tt ^\>*^>r\v to (ho |H^tut of ovortlowinjf. 

Thoir wputrttiou of Ivh^^ alH>vo M h\isioi\^s liko 
l5^ ^mUo wivn^ii jiui>iu\o\\t» ^ijivou hv fowvutuM*^ who 
hi^vo wrtjiiul^v %^vu uothiuii^ lH\vond N\ all Stitvt^ 
Uu( « wholo luuiou ojuu\ot Ih> jmiijxHl hy ot\o stixvt 
i^f owo oU^w Frauiv Oiuiwot Ih^ jvuliixnl hv tho IhmiU^ 
viuMs of Tans. Montuiartw. aoil tho Moulin Ki>nijx\ 
Tlu\sv aiv tho ii\>\it iUtraotiou55 purjuvioly i^rir^uiifliH^ 
for f\Mvi^ii\io\^ Imt (hoy ui>^ not at nil typiv\nl of 
V''rtM\oh Ufo. 

Amor\Oi*n?i urt^ domiui^tiHl hy thoir hoarts auii 
i^i4!^\\y oarruHl awiv>^ by (hoir omotious and thoir 



A 'rnrri'frn ( Icn erf, :'.i fy 



*^ IUiPiUtt'H>. f'n' »j« U n fumUmiUtif^ V/unt* Tin-, 
i(iitn\t\nn/^ miU* of it ttiirnHM nn mn/'U tfton*. iinfit 
^int |>'/«^'««Jon of wt^filiU, W<^ UU'i i'Oinnii( otii of 
it vJ''f/>riofj« ithi\ w<' <'//joy th^t i^tuoVtou iUat it pro- 
vhU'H for itn, WUt'tt w<^ Utivt* tU** motit^y w<'. n\p^ruii 
if f/'<'4'jy iiu*\ Wki' Up UiiM* oiUi'vn nUiwit otw itWuMuri*.. 
'Ji/jnk iff v/\r,i,\ otw tnUl'totiuUi'^ UfiVi*, *\otit*, wjfji 
fh<'i/' iutiui-y. TUi%y Uavi* t'OfttrUfttU'/i io Uj<'. j(r<^af/ 

Viti'HhU'Mf ho«|;JUil«, tntimuthUf iUpmrU^f fmv<'. tp**^'h 

J :)'\iti'ir<' '.ilmt iUo way Ut whi/h Afuiti^t'iinn Uiku 
Up Ui'iir\, the. i'^l^\^t'^\\Hi^t^ti^l^t of iUt'.ir own j/aHJ/rular 
t'Uy. Jf \h a n\>\i'Mt\U\ n\Av\t that tiw\<fH\iU*A\y ('jfU- 
irWmUm io Uii' i/t'i'iit!tt^M of th<^ totittU-y an^i )ci'M\pn 

\7/i'Mii th<', tov//i« o\)\ii^t^ i\itt nt'y/MUH U> \}ikt*. a 
V\'**ii\ov hif^T'^f hi ihc (Hit', tUt%y Jjv<', Ut. 

ttcl'ttr/ :iu(\ M ri'JitUti\i''\ tin*, iff tin Annn'U'fift lnjiy 
v/\i', N>l'j fn<^ iUiti PiUi', Usui wnni', f><^;iutjfrjj oi'i fatfiUy 

f}j< intiHt'MUl Ul Ui'V iOWfl, 

"■ Ji'ji fjo/i't you vj\>^\i Uf ki*A*\t M fifr ytfur i:h\]i]r*m 

■-nit\ W^i'M- f\i'Wi'Mi\ii.U\¥/f ''"' \ U>ki'i\. 

'■'Hi t}iU'j- it. fh;if will ;>/]'] 1/> it« vitUic,,^^ 



A Frencliwoman' s Impressions of America 

Mr. George Creel came to see us at the Vander- 
bilt one Sunday afternoon as we were passing 
through the city. He proposed that I should ex- 
tend my work and that I should become an agent 
of the American Government and make an exten- 
sive tour through the States for war propaganda. 
This idea pleased us intensely as we realized that 
the work accomplished in this way would be far 
more helpful to our country. 

We at once spoke to Monsieur Tardieu about this 
proposition and he advised us to accept. Then a 
committee meeting was held at which some mem- 
bers of the American Committee for Devastated 
France met Mr. George Creel and the arrangements 
were made. 

We had, however, to go to Washington for a day 
to decide several important questions for our tour 
for the Public Information Committee. So far this 
branch of the American Government had not yet 
sent any women on a special propaganda mission 
through the country and it was a new experiment 
that they wanted to try. My work was to consist 
mostly in making speeches to spur on war-work in 
shipping plants, labor temples, and in factories en- 
gaged on munitions, aeroplanes and various other 
war productions. 

We spent but a few hours in Washington travel- 
ing two nights back and forth from New York, and 
once more I had the opportunity of admiring the 

94 



American Generosity 



American generosity that has become proverbial 
the world over. 

Before taking the midnight train we were invited 
by the Shipping Board to a big dinner given at 
Chevy Chase in honor of Monsieur Tardieu, who 
was leaving that night for France. 

Chevy Chase is a very fashionable club situated 
in Maryland, a state which is not dry as the Dis- 
trict of Columbia is, and that accounts for its 
popularity. 

I happened to be seated next to our French High 
Commissioner but the chair on my left remained 
empty all through the dinner. The famous Mr. 
Schwab was to have been its occupant, but he had 
missed his train and did not reach Washington in 
time. So my nearest neighbor was Mr. C — , an im- 
portant member of the Shipping Board. He leant 
forward toward me and most charmingly said : 

" Allow me, Madame, to drink to your health, 
and to France's victory in this war.'' 

Whereupon I immediately raised my glass and 
replied : 

" Let me express my thanks herewith to France^s 
generous ally, the great American nation which in 
this struggle represents the weight in the balance 
that will assure victory in the cause of Freedom." 

Once started, both Mr. C — and myself might 
have gone on exchanging patriotic compliments 
*^ ad eternum," but I was to discover that evening 

95 



ui Frcnchicomans Imjjrcssions of .imcrica 

that Ainoricaus do not inoioly express their feel- 
in«;-8 ill words, but far more etUeieiitly still do they 
express (hem in generous aetious. My nei«;hl)or 
coni^luded: 

** Not only do 1 drink to your eountry's p,iorious 
cause, Madauu\ but 1 wish to eonlribute to-night to 
alleviating her sulTerings. I am ha])py to ask you 
to aeeei)t live thousand dollars to be used by you as 
you think best for the children and women of 
France." 

1 was almost speechless at such generosity; all 
the more so that 1 had not mentioned my work in 
America. {Suddenly a young-looking man seated at 
the far side of the table, Mr. P — of the Shippin<^ 
l>oard having followed the co-nversation with in- 
terest, raised his glass and drank to my health. 

I replied gaily, returning the comi)liment. 

*'No, no; 1 won't allow that!" cried Mr. C— , 
with conviction, and, turning to Mr. P — , " You 
shall not be allowed to drink to our guest's health 
unless you also give her live thousand dollars foi 
France." 

" Nothing will stop me from raising my glass in 
honor of a French wonum. 3ladame. Here are the 
five thousand dollars I owe you." 

And Mr. P — sent me a paper Avitli his signature 
across the table. 

It would be hard for me to analyse my senti- 
ments at that moment. I don't know whether I 

96 



American Generofdty 



feJt proud or filled with gratitude or moved to tears 
or what were my true feelin^n; hut whatever it 
was I felt, I felt it most in tensely. 

I like to note down any little incident that may 
show the fraternal feeling between America and 
my own country — a feeling of which I get con- 
stant proof. 

My sister had been suffenng from her foot for 
a week, and only found time to have it attended to 
on our arrival in Philadelphia. A clever and cele- 
brated surgcion, a friend of our cousin's, came sev- 
eral times and finally cured it. While conversing 
we had told him about our expenences at the hos- 
pital where we had volunteered as nurses at the 
beginning of the war. On his last visit I had 
begged my cousin to inquire how much I was in- 
debted to him. lie refused any fee, and when my 
cousin insisted, he replied : 

" In America you know nurses have all medical 
treatnu^nt free." 

Many touching instances of American kindness 
of heart came to our hearing, and we marveled 
much at the spint of sacrifice and self-abnegation 
we met with almost everywhere. 

To them the war was not only a war, but it was 
a crusade, and they entered upon it with quite 
a religious feeling. The Americans have the quali- 
ties that youth alone can give. They are idealists, 
they are generous and impulsive; their emotions 

97 



A Frcnchtcomans Imprcsffions of America 



iuv easily aroused, and thoy aro in love with France 
with much the same sentiment as that which gives 
the school boy the desire to lay down his life in 
the cause of his tirst lady-love, tillino- him with 
divams of adventure in which he becomes the ^' Red 
Cross Knio-ht" i-escuiug Una from the hands of 
her enemies. 

Amongst many other stories I remember hearing 
that there exists in Washington a charitable insti- 
tution created for the purpose of housing old ladies 
of good Southern families which have fallen into 
poverty. The inmates of this organization possess 
no means whatever, being entirely provided for by 
this charitable society. AVhen the war broke out 
these kind-hearted wonuui were particularly dis- 
tressed at not being able to come to the help of 
the many war misfortunes in Belgium and France, 
iuui then they had a most touching idea. They all 
voluntarily gave up taking sugar in their tea and 
coffee so that their sacrifice might make some one 
else happy across the ocean. Let us hope there 
may have been many among them who had no lik- 
ing for sugar! 

Not only do the Americans extend this kind- 
hearted goodwill to their fellow-mortals, but also 
to iinimals. In the big national parks the animals 
are never shot down, and thev are allowed to live 
a free and undisturbed existence; in the Eastern 
cities the squirrels approach the visitors in the 

98 



American Generosity 



public gardf^nH, and come wiUiout any shynoHH to 
eat from tlif^ir handw. 

Better HtiJJ, thiH general amenity of the American 
people extends itself also to nature, and I was 
very much delighted at th(> sight of a placard that 
an old Washington gentleman had placed on his 
lawn. Instead of the usual "Trespassing will be 
prosecuted," he had written, " I'lease give the grass 
a chance I " 



99 



CHAPTER X 

TOURING FOR DEVASTATED FRANCE 

AMONGST the many interesting people we 
met in New York, none seemed to me more 
remarkable than Colonel Ilonse. His 
worldwide reputation and the atmosphere of mys- 
tery that seems to surround him made me all the 
more desirous of meeting him. 

I had already made the acquaintance of ^Irs. 
House, and her charming manner had quite won 
my heart, when one day I receiyed a word from 
her inyitiuiTf us to meet her husband. 

Their home in New York is most attractive and 
yet simple, without any ostentatious excess of lux- 
ury. As we entered, the first thing that attracted 
my attention in the anteroom was a veiT good and 
fairly large photograph of the Victory of Samo- 
thrace, of which the original statue is in the mu- 
seum of the Louvre in Paris. This picture seemed 
to me a good omen of what Colonel House, with his 
prophetic insight into the politics of the world was 
perhaps already foreseeing for us in the near fu- 
ture. 

As soon as we had drunk our tea, our host invited 

100 



Touring for Devrwtated France 

me into his study, whore we might be more at 
Jeisure to talk. The room is a small one almost 
entirely lined with books; the furniture is simple, 
consisting of a large writing-table and two or three 
comfortable arm-chairs. 

I had ample time to study the countenance of 
this celebrated man who is one of the truest pa- 
triots, in the broadest sense of the word, that has 
ever lived ; for unlike many others his motives seem 
to be absolutely free from any ambitious desire for 
personal honors or worldly attainment. 

Few men have impressed me as being of such 
sincere simplicity, with such complete lack of any 
desire to " show off/' or to create a sensation of 
any kind. Colonel House does not apparently 
care to make any impression on his visitors, but 
rather he seems to study them, to weigh their ca- 
pacities and their abilities, to penetrate their men- 
talities and their very souls with his keen search- 
ing gaze until they feel that his clear mind has 
judged them impartially, without either over-in- 
dulgence or over-severity. 

His manners are extremely affable. Physically, 
Colonel House is fairly tall, slight, with refined, 
good features of which his eyes are the most re- 
markable. 

It is often noticed that painters are possessed of 
eyes that seem really to study you, seeing what may 
escape less observant people; but their glance is 

101 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

generally material or superficial, and I always have 
the impression that they are merely comparing 
values or noting contrasts in coloring. On the 
contrary, Colonel House's glance has the exceed- 
ingly rare quality of a singular penetration, and 
though outward details may escape his observa- 
tion, I should be astonished if his appreciation of 
the personality he is studying was not remarkably 
accurate. 

As we were leaving I told Mrs. House that we 
had accepted Mr. Creel's offer, and would make a 
propaganda tour through the States for the 
American Government. 

" I am delighted to hear this good news,'' she 
answered amiably, " and remember my words, 
Madame de Br3^as, you and your sister are now 
going to make the trip of your lives." 

So with this pleasant prospect before us for the 
near future, I set to work to accomplish what had 
to be done for the object for which we had originally 
come. 

During the next fortnight this work consisted of 
speaking for devastated France and our program 
once more took us to Boston, then to Providence, 
New Haven, Springfield, and again to New York 
and its neighborhood, Newark, White Plains, West 
Point, where we saw a parade of the cadets, and 
nothing was more picturesque than these young- 
men in their lovely gray and white uniforms in 

102 



Touring for Devastated France 

clear outline against the wonderfully green scenery 
along the Hudson river. 

After that I lectured at Princeton, in Alexander 
Hall, then in l*hiladelphia and in several towns of 
Pennsylvania. Then after a trip to West Virginia 
we reached Washington, where we made the final 
arrangements with the Chairman of the Committee 
on Public Information for our tour " Out West." 

In the preceding three weeks I had lectured in 
fifteen different towns, and we were so exhausted 
by the time we reached Washington that the mere 
fact of being quietly seated in a comfortable arm- 
chair for a few minutes was enough to send us di- 
rectly into the arms of Morpheus. 

We had had many various and unusual experi- 
ences during those fatiguing days of rush. But 
many opjiortunities were offered us for doing and 
seeing things out of the ordinary routine. For in- 
stance, in Pennsylvania we had the distinction of 
sleeping in an insane asylum. You will perhaps 
think that by a few manifestations of the necessary 
symptoms we could have had the same privilege in 
our own country. But if that had happened to us 
there we could not have gone to America, which to 
us seemed of vital importance. The motive of our 
stay there was not to lecture to the inmates, al- 
though had our stay coincided with a Sunday morn- 
ing, the doctor said he would have asked me to 
talk about the war at their religious service. 

103 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

We had rarely met with more charming hospi- 
tality than that accorded us at the asylum. We ar- 
rived there in the evening and when we were shown 
into our rooms, we glanced at the door and found 
that the key was missing. We called the doctor^s 
wife and asked whether we had not better lock our- 
selves in, as the doctor had told us that the insane 
patients had their quarters at the end of the pas- 
sage. Never before had a key given me such a 
feeling of security, and it was with intense relief 
that I turned it vigorously in the lock. However 
no sound or cry disturbed our restful night. We 
woke up without any feeling of internment. 
Everything was so peaceful ! We might have been 
in the Garden of Eden. 

On leaving our room we met one of the doctor's 
patients, an insane woman without means who 
earned the little she had by working in the house- 
hold. When she was told that we were here on 
behalf of the poor suffering women and children of 
France, this good-hearted creature thrust into my 
hand fifty cents. Her gift so spontaneously of- 
fered was certainly one of the most touching ones 
I had yet received, and it proved to me that in their 
moments of lucidity the hearts of these unfortunate 
creatures overflow with warm sympathy for the 
sufferings of others. 

We visited the house and walked through the 
gardens from which we admired the asylum, a fine 

104 



Touring for Devastated France 

piece of architecture of vast proportions, and very 
well situated. 

We met several of the doctor's " special friends.'^ 
This is how he spoke of some of the patients when 
introducing them to us. 

One of the insane men to whom we spoke had 
just been nursing one of his asylum comrades, who 
had had the unlucky idea of jumping through a 
second floor window, and had alighted in a some- 
what damaged condition on the ground. The man 
had carefully attended to his friend and faithfully 
carried out the doctor's orders. He always noted 
down what he had done for the sick man and daily 
handed to the doctor a bulletin signed " Holy 
Ghost." 

Then we went over to see the women's section 
and were received there by one of the insane who 
addressed me thus: 

" I would like you to take back a message to 
France. Will you tell them over there that ice ^^ 
(and she turned round with a large sweep of the 
arm indicating the insane patients) " disapprove 
of the war." 

And so I am happy to be able to tell my com- 
patriots that the only people I found in the United 
States disapproving of the war were the female in- 
habitants of an insane asylum. 

During this frenzied traveling we had time to get 
accustomed to the Pullman cars and we cannot 

105 



A Frenclnvoman* s Impressions of America 

understand why so many Americans complain of 
them, dechirinji^ them a horrid, uncomfortable, in- 
decent mode of locomotion. AA^e found it enter- 
taining and full of the unexpected and we should 
have regretted had it been different as we should 
have been deprived of many amusing traveling ex- 
periences. 

On one of our journeys I witnessed a scene of a 
highly comic nature between a white woman pas- 
senger and a colored porter. 

It was toward midnight that this woman entered 
the Pullman car after I had taken possession of my 
berth. She was visibly out of breath, puffing and 
fussing considerably, and owing to her very de- 
cided plumpness experienced much difficulty in 
climbing into the upper section above my head. 
This accomplished, I heard her say to the colored 
man : 

" I may ring you up later on.'' 

Then I went to sleep, but not for long. For soon 
after I was awakened by some rumbling noises in 
the berth above and the sound of the porter bring- 
ing the ladder. 

Getting down was difficult as the train rounded 
many curves and more than once I feared a catas- 
trophe. However, our stout fellow traveler got 
down safely at last and went for an airing along 
the car. 

I could see her ample form clad in its white 

106 



Touring for Devastated France 

wrapper, her black pigtail hanging down her back, 
walking up and down the passage like some bulky 
ghost. Presently she returned, still short of breath 
and managed with the help of the darky to reach 
her perch on high once more. And again all was 
quiet. This, however, did not last long. 

I was not destined to sleep that night for the 
bell above my head rang unfailingly every quarter 
of an hour or so. And the same tactics were gone 
through. Toward three A. m., the summons being 
somewhat tardily answered by the porter, I heard 
the lusty breathing of my upper-berth neighbor, and 
through a slight opening between my curtains I 
caught sight of two legs dangling over the edge 
in close proximity to my head in the well-known 
posture of an angler fishing from a dock. Then an 
almost irresistible temptation came to me to tickle 
the soles of her feet, but I resisted with an effort 
and lay back wondering what was to follow. 

A few seconds later I heard the darky approach- 
ing and the train rounded another curve. There 
was a piercing shriek and a fearful noise that made 
me sit up quickly. I looked through my curtain 
and there before my gaze lay a black and white 
jumble of human forms endeavoring to extricate 
themselves and get on to their feet again. The 
fidgety passenger of the upper berth, in trying to 
climb back to her elevated position as the train 
made a sharp turn, had lost her balance and had 

107 



A FreTichwoman's Impressions of America 

collapsed, dragging the colored man along with her 
in her rapid and violent descent; and there they 
lay, white woman, black man, ladder, and all, a 
heap of confusion and shamefacedness, on the 
ground, while from every berth appeared the 
amused and inquiring heads of the other passen- 
gers, utterly incapable of restraining their hilarity 
in watching the desperate struggle of black and 
white to recover their natural position. 



108 



CHAPTER Xr 



ON A MISSION FOR THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

BEFORE starting on our long journey for 
the Committee on Public Information we 
spent ten days in Washington during which 
the following schedule was planned for us : 



June 21-22 

23-27- 

28-29 - 

30-1 - 

July 2-4 - 

5-6 - 

7-8 - 

9-10- 

11-14- 

15-17- 

18-19 - 

20-21 - 

22-24 - 

25-26 - 

27-29 - 

30-6 - 

August 7-8 ■ 

9-10- 

11-12- 

13-17- 



• Harrisburg 
Pittsburgh 
Columbus 
Dayton 
Cincinnati 
Indianapolis 
Louisville 
Evansville 
Saint Louis 
Kansas City 
Des Moines 
Sioux City 
Omaha 
Lincoln 
Denver 

Colorado Springs 
Pueblo 

Salt Lake City 
Ogden 
Los Angeles 

109 



Pennsylvania 

Pennsylvania 

Ohio 

Ohio 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Kentucky 

Indiana 

Missouri 

Missouri 

Iowa 

Iowa 

Nebraska 

Nebraska 

Colorado 

Colorado 

Colorado 

Utah 

Utah 

California 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 



August 18-19 — San Diego 


California 


20-24 — San Francisco 


California 


25-26 — Berkeley 


California 


27-28 — Sacramento 


California 


29-31 — Portland 


Oregon 


September 1-2 — Tacoma 


Washington 


3-5 —Seattle 


Washington 


6-12 — Spokane 


Washington 


13-14 — Butte 


Montana 


15-16 — Great Falls 


Montana 


17-18 — Helena 


Montana 


19-20 — Fargo 


North Dakota 


21-22 — Grand Forks 


North Dakota 


23-25 — Duluth 


Minnesota 


26-27— Saint Paul 


Minnesota 


28-30 — Minneapolis 


Minnesota 


October 1-2 — Madison 


Wisconsin 


6-10 — Chicago 


Illinois 


11-14 — Detroit 


Michigan 


15-16 — Toledo 


Ohio 


17-20 — Cleveland 


Ohio 


21-22 — Youngstown 


Ohio 


23-25 — Buffalo 


New York 


28-29 — Syracuse 


New York 


30-31 — Albany 


New York 



A charming lady who took an interest in our 
work, was appalled at the length of the trip we 
were about to undertake. 

" Do not overdo it, my dear Madame de Bryas. 
You do not realize that in America we are quite 
capable of killing our friends through the intensity 
of our hospitality and our . . . curiosity ! " 

110 



On a Mission for the American Government 

^' Is my life in danger then ... at last? '' I 
inquired, much amused. " Oh ! how exciting ! 
Have I so far escaped bombs and submarines only 
to die now in the heat of the American plains from 
exposure to the overenthusiastic kindheartedness 
of the crowds? " 

" I see that you have never heard of the casualty 
list of foreign guests we have feted in America. 
We hastened Kachel's death, but that, I think, has 
been our most conspicuous social crime. Many 
others besides your great tragedian have been vic- 
tims. Not long ago an English lady was so much 
entertained and feted and called upon to make so 
many speeches in this country, that she died almost 
immediately after landing in England. In the 
case of our own countrywomen, we raise a monu- 
ment to them, when their death is due to our exag- 
gerated sense of sociability. Last year such a 
monument was erected in Los Angeles to the mem- 
ory of a young suffragist who died suddenly from 
overwork during a lecture tour in California. So 
please beware, and remember my warning.'' 

" Why ! " I exclaimed, " you are certainly tempt- 
ing me to become an American citizen, for then I 
should really have a chance of obtaining my statue, 
with the inscription, ' She talked herself to the 
grave,' raised in one of your squares filled with 
their lovely flowers and merry little squirrels ! " 

In the meantime, before setting out on our tour, 

111 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

friends frequentty took us out motoring, and thus 
we had the pleasure of admiring the country about 
Washington. 

The Potomac Falls are a beautiful sight, and we 
were highly interested in seeing the river, having 
once heard the story of some British ambassador 
who slightingly remarked that he could throw a 
shilling across the Potomac. 

" Oh ! That's an easy task," answered a witty 
American, " compared with what Washington did 
in throwing a sovereign across the Atlantic." 

About this time we received a proposal to write 
a book of our impressions of the United States. 

That sounded very interesting, and we went out 
for advice about how to make a contract in 
America. 

We met our friend Jacques de Neuflize, the repre- 
sentative of the Bank of France in New York, who 
was in Washington for the day and who should 
know something about big contracts. 

" By all means," was his answer, " make a verbal 
contract. You can rely and sleep on the word of 
an American. On the contrary, if you make a 
written agreement, it is up to you to find out what 
is written in it ; this is fairly easy if you can read, 
but to find out what it means is a more difficult 
proposition for an unsophisticated French intel- 
ligence." 

Having said this, our friend could not resist the 

112 



On a Mission for the American Government 

temptation of delivering a lecture on this subject. 

" You see, in France as in America there are, *of 
course, honest and dishonest people. Dishonest 
people are dishonest in both countries. But hon- 
esty is based on conventions, and the conventions 
may be different. In France a verbal contract is 
always more or less tentative. In America it is 
binding. A written agreement in America is ex- 
ecuted literally without regard to previous con- 
versations; in France it is executed faithfully, but 
in accordance with the ^ sx)irit of the contract,^ 
which means that due regard is given to the original 
intentions of the parties, even if some sentence has 
slipped in the redaction of the contract unnoticed 
to one of the parties. 

" This is what has brought about the curious 
situation that, between two countries where cer- 
tainly the standards of honesty are of the highest, 
there have been some misunderstandings on busi- 
ness transactions, due only to this fact, that the 
American and the Frenchman did not understand 
what the other meant. '^ 

Not having had an opportunity of goijig out for 
a walk since we landed on Ameri'can soil, we de- 
cided to stroll out together unaccompanied one 
evening after dinner. 

It was a clear, beautiful night, and our steps 
led us to Washington's monument, white in the 
bright light of a full moon. It was visible all over 

113 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

the citj, and to us it seemed like the symbol of 
Washington's pure soul protecting the capital of 
the great nation which oAved its birth to his in- 
spired and patriotic genius. 

This obelisk is the loftiest achievement of ma- 
sonry in the world, and one feels a pigmy indeed 
when standing at the base, towering as it does to a 
height of 555 feet. 

We walked all around its square base, guarded 
by a man in a dark blue uniform. Two other tour- 
ists, American soldiers, questioned the guardian 
with : 

" Well, what are you doing here? '^ 

And the man answered : 

" Why, I 'm on guard ! '' 

" Do you mean to say that you are here to guard 
this thing? '^ The soldier indicated the monument 
in amazement as if any one would ever think of 
walking off with it hidden in his pocket. 

" But I guard many other things besides," in- 
dignantly replied the man, and with a wide sweep 
of the arm he indicated the grass, the benches, and 
the few wild flowers trying hard to blossom. 

The guardian then came up to us, visibly ex- 
periencing the feeling of a host receiving all visitors 
coming to admire this unique monument. He said : 

" Good evening, ladies. It is a beautiful night. 
From what State are you? I ask you this because 
forty States have given memorial stones which are 

114 



On a Mission for the American Government 

set into the monument. If you care to come back 
in the daytime I will show them to you.'' 

" We are not from the United States. We are 
French and have just arrived from Paris." 

At these words the man took off his cap in the 
most dignified manner and saluted us with a sort 
of reverence. 

^' Then you belong to a country that we love 
and admire, ladies. Honor to France and to its 
heroes ! " 

" Your own country is a great one, too," we 
answered. " And your boys are doing splendidly 
over there. They fight like lions, and the French 
adore the Americans." 

Washington is filled with darkies, and we be- 
came extremely interested in the negro question. 

Life is specially hard for the mulattos. When 
they are not jet-black, the negroes reject them as 
not being of themselves, and the white people can- 
not bear contact with them if there be just a speck 
of black on the nails. No one wants them, and 
they can marry only among mulattos. I can 
imagine how difficult it must be for a woman to 
choose the right shade of husband, one whose color 
will just match hers. Mulattos, even those of the 
lightest cream-coffee complexion, are incorporated 
in negro regiments and are never allowed to enter 
the white ones. 

" Some of these laws," a lady said to me at a 

115 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

luncheon-party in Washington, '^ must seem very 
unfair to you, and I know that in France you have 
no racial prejudices, but you must understand that 
the negro problem is one of the most complicated 
ones in America as the black race increases in 
about the same proportion as do rabbits in 
Europe. In the South the darkies have their own 
street-cars, their churches, and their special movies. 
In these parts of the country you find much less 
mixing up of whites and blacks than here. I am a 
Southerner myself, and my feelings toward them 
are complex. I loathe them as a race and they are 
physically repulsive to me, and yet there are few 
human beings I love as well as my old colored 
nurse who brought me up, and I am glad even to 
this very day when she puts her arms around my 
neck and kisses and hugs me in her own dear 
motherly way.'^ 

A handsome lady at the opposite side of the 
table, hearing that we were talking about the 
South joined in the conversation. 

" I am a Southerner, too, and I have always 
had negro servants around me. They are loyal, 
but so terribly childish that you never know what 
mischief they will get into next. This winter my 
old cook fell ill while I was in South Carolina, and 
I had to take an extra colored cook for a few days. 
The day after her arrival she sent up to the dining- 
room the most elaborate and extravag:ant-looking 

116 



On a Mission for the American Government 

pate de foie gras, with the strangest looking orna- 
ments on the pastry. I was so curious that after 
luncheon I went down to see the new cook and ask 
her how she had achieved such a result. ^Whj, 
Sally, what did you use for decorating the pMe? ' 
Sally looked down nervously like a scolded child, 
and to my amazement I saw she was going to burst 
out crying. I insisted this time more pressingly. 
And Sally with big tears on her eyelashes and a sob 
in her voice, said, ' S'cuse me, ma'am, but I took my 
false teeth. ' " 

This reminded me of the Hindu servant who was 
caught putting the finishing touches to his most 
excellent toast by buttering it with a tooth brush, 
to the horror of his English mistress. 

We were launched on the subject of negro stories, 
and my sister and I were very much interested as all 
this was perfectly novel to us. All the people in 
that part of America seem to have darkies as 
servants. 

Another lady after luncheon told us that her 
mother had been for many years an invalid, and 
that her only pleasure was receiving visitors. One 
winter she was laid up for months with severe 
bronchitis and could see no one. But each evening 
she read with the greatest interest the names of the 
people who had called in the afternoon. Her de- 
voted colored butler, having noticed this and want- 
ing to please his mistress, gathered some old visit- 

117 



A Frcnclncomati's Jm prrssiotis of Atnt-rica 



inji'-oariis, and |>n'N(Mi(«'(l (Iumu on (he Iniv ho as (o 
muKiplv (he iiiimluM" o( calls. Amon^ (hem woro 
thoso o( sc\cvi{\ Irioiuls lon^- siiuo dead, and the 
old ladv, iu>( wanting (o hurl i\w colonnl inan'H 
ftudiu»is, t'onsi'UMiliouslv ivaii (Ihmu v\vv\ day with- 
out c\c\- bcliaviui; htu- inttuisc auuistuutuit. 

"Have you U(>tii*t'd the ucw fashion that if4 
sproadin*» with a * turoro ' amongst tlu' nc^ro 
>vointMi? " askt»d a hrii^lit and rharniin*; vouuj; •;irl 
in our party. ** As you all know, whito wouumi 
ait» cra/y io \\i\\v tluMr hair t*ri///.t»d up and kinked 
liko darkitvs, by tlu* cltH'trii' * oyerlaslin*; wavor.' 
WheiH^as tlu» poor darkios art* now tryiui^- io jivt 
tlit'ir hair st rai^httMit^l out tlat ami unkinkod so as 
to look more likt» white pt\>plt\ It is absurdly pa- 
(lielic. and (he ileyt^- woman who has inyented the 
• nnkinkin^' ' t\>r (he bhu'ks is makinj^" Just as bij; 
a t'ortune as the man who thought of Crizziuj;- up 
tht^ whi(es ! " 

\N t^ WiM-t^ nuu'h im[>ressed in T>. 0. l\v the sij;ht 
of so nuiuy wmntMi driyiui* their own nu>tor-ears. 
Here it is an aehieyemtMit whieh they seem io eon- 
sider [he (Inishinn' toiudi oi' a ^j^ood edueation. l>e- 
fi>re tht^ war no wonum in h'ram't* droyt* ears, but 
si> many enstoms are ehanuiui;- on (he obi Conti- 
niMit. (hat 1 inuiiiine wt^ will y^u-y soon adopt this 
one w lu'u lUc war is oyer. 

Unt shall we also adopt with this driving; enizo, 

lis 



On a Mhmon for the Araerican Goi)ernw£nt 

Uift fjiKhion of Hitting at tho who.^J bare-hfjadf^d, as 
I 8oe Ko inarjy womon doin^ iu Itortk C.roMk I^ark, 
or in I'airmont Park Irj PhiladfJphia. They are 
preUj to look at, arifj their hair In heJd in by a net 
which keepH It tidy. XeatneKH in one of the ehar- 
aeterintirrH of the Anieriean women. 

liut vvhjit ean be their reanon for drivinj^ with 
onJy a net on their headH. Ik it a war naerifiee to 
economize on hatH and }>uy JJberty liondn, or in it 
done for toning up the Jjair, or does it come i>erhapH 
from the Himf)le desire to feel the cool breeze fan 
their foreheads? It is still a mystery to me. 

In order that our acquaintance with all things 
American might lack nothing in completeness, one 
of our VVashingtonian cousins took us to a drug- 
stores to introduce us to the ice-cream soda fountain. 

The simple fac't of going to the druggist's to find 
an enjoyable drink threw a new light upon pos- 
sibiliti(^s of sucIj shops, f^'or until that day we 
had suf)posed, in old world fashion, that only 
li(pjids possessing a more or h^ss be^neficient action 
on th(! hcsalth were to be found there. 

This once more proved to us that Americans know 
better than others how to sugar th(! pill, a gift 
which certainly contributes to make this planet a 
more (enjoyable place to live u[)on. 

Customers climb upon high chairs round a 
counter and so, once more an inch or two nearer 

119 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

to heaven, we enjoyed the blissful beverage — in 
the hot American weather a real drink for the 
gods. 

We were glad to have been taken to a place con- 
sidered '^ most proper/' w^here we had found a de- 
lightfully refreshing drink in a dry State. 

Prohibition is a serious problem, which the drug- 
gists, better than others, may know how to solve 
in the States. I was told that one of them had 
advertized in one of the Prohibition States a re- 
markable " tonic '' wane named " Peruna." The 
people, deprived of cocktails and other such " pick- 
me-ups," felt greatly in need of something strength- 
ening to help them to get over their physical and 
moral depression. 

" Peruna " was the greatest success and seemed 
truly to possess the essential properties of an al- 
coholic drink, and might safely be approved by 
all. Even the most hardened prohibitionists ec- 
statically absorbed any number of bottles of this 
chemical product that advantageously replaced the 
strongest of the cocktails. 

But, alas, for the prohibitionists! It was later 
discovered that " Peruna " owed all its charm to 
its being a special preparation containing ninety 
per cent, of alcohol. 

And more strongly still did we realize the bond 
of friendship between our two countries when we 

120 



On a Mission for the American Government 

made a picnic with Miss Margaret Wilson, young- 
est daughter of the President of the United States. 
We set out in two of the White House motor-cars 
together with some of the President's intimate 
friends. As is well known President Wilson is 
surrounded by a few such chosen friends, and his 
daughter also seems to enjoy their company. 

Our party was a very merry one, and Miss Wil- 
son's lively and charming disposition contributed 
very largely to enlivening the dinner, which we 
took under some beautiful old trees, and very com- 
fortably seated on the cushions of the White House 
motor-cars. 

Before starting on our mission we visited the 
offices of the French High Commissionner in Co- 
lumbia Road. Like the Broadway branch office in 
New York it is a veritable bee-hive where much 
wonderful work is carried out. One thousand, five 
hundred people are under the direct supervision of 
the " Haut Commissaire.'' 

Monsieur Andre Tardieu is to-day one of the 
most promising political men in France, and his 
organization in America brought to the fore all his 
extraordinary gifts of energy, adaptibility, clear- 
mindedness, and practical efficiency. He is also 
endowed with remarkable physical endurance, 
which enables him to work easily fifteen hours a 
day. 

The entire responsibility of the French Govem- 

121 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

ment's war purchases in the United States, rested 
on his shoulders, and his representatives were in 
intimate and close relationship with the various 
war departments of the American Government. 

During Monsieur Tardieu's absence Columbia 
Road was under the direction of the general dele- 
gate, Monsieur de Billy, who was most kind, and 
extended to us the support of the French Govern- 
ment. In this way we were making our tour under 
the very best auspices. 

On the eve of our departure Mr. Creel told us 
that if we cared to go to his office the next morning, 
we should have the opportunity of meeting Mrs. 
Panl^hurst, who had an appointment with him. 
We were extremely interested at the idea of seeing 
this well-known woman, who has certainly acquired 
a world-wide reputation, and we did not fail to 
keep the engagement at Jackson Place. 

Truly we were never more astonished than when 
we saw Mrs. Pankhurst enter the room. I had 
imagined that the instigator of those extreme meas- 
ures of violence employed by certain of the suffra- 
gists — such as throwing flaming chairs from a 
theater box upon the people below, or fighting with 
the police like desperadoes — would be a " tower- 
of -strength " type of womanhood. 

Whereas Mrs. Pankhurst appeared to be a small, 
refined, middle-aged woman, with delicate features, 
clear and sweet blue eyes, a low, subdued, and well- 

122 



On a Mission for the American Government 

modulated voice. She was very elegantly attired, 
with an evident desire to produce a distinctly fav- 
orable effect on those who cross her path. There 
was in her whole attitude a certain reserve even 
verging on timidity. Timidity! This was cer- 
tainly the most unexpected feminine quality I had 
ever dreamed of finding in Mrs. Pankhurst. It is 
true that celebrities are often a mass of contra- 
dictions between their inner selves and their out- 
ward appearances. 

Before going any further I want here to express 
my admiration for the way in which Mr. Creel or- 
ganized our tour for us. To each town through 
which we traveled, orders were wired from Wash- 
ington to the different societies or government 
agents in whose charge we were and not once dur- 
ing our long trip did we experience the feeling that 
anything for our comfort had been neglected. 

The Committee on Public Information attended 
most kindly and with the greatest consideration to 
our smallest wishes such as ordering our apart- 
ments beforehand, and so making our traveling as 
easy a matter as possible. 

Mr. Creel has sometimes been " accused " of being 
a poet, but as a French woman and, moreover, a 
Parisian, I cannot help deeming that an artistic 
temperament is the greatest gift God can bestow on 
a human being. Besides, the Chairman of the 
Committee on Public Information is not only an 

123 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

artist, but he is also a creator of practical realiza- 
tion, and he proved it by the efficiency with which 
he organized this new branch of the American Gov- 
ernment, which rendered great service during the 
war. 

It was on the morning of June 21 that we took 
the train for Harrisburg, where we spent only two 
days. We much admired the Susquehanna River, 
of which we had a lovely view from the Civic Club 
House w^here we stayed. 

There, too, I had the satisfaction of beating my 
own record. Truly I am becoming very American ! 
I was asked to speak nine times in twenty-four 
hours. 

This was the program of my work : 

1. Red Cross Auxiliary 

2. Pipe and Pipe bending works 

3. Pomeray and Stewart Shop 

4. Red Cross Class 

5. Pine Street Church 

6. Central Iron Steel Co. 

7. Finishing Mill Works 

8. Blough Manufactory Company, Textile 

Workers 

9. Civic Club House 

My sister hoped this would be my only record, 
for otherwise she feared my skeleton alone would 
return to Europe. 

124 



On a Mission for the American Government 

We had gathered the curious impression from 
what some Americans had told us about Pittsburgh 
that it was an ugly city, very black and fearfully 
smoky. We were beginning to think that colored 
people alone would be able to inhabit it or those 
not minding to be taken for such after half an 
hour's walk through the city. Now that we have 
been there I can affirm that we are still of the white 
race, and belonged to it all through our stay in 
Pittsburgh. 

The town contains some most attractive shops, 
with dresses of the very latest fashions in their 
windows. American women dress with so much 
taste and always look so very up-to-date that it is 
a real pleasure to watch them going about. They 
all seem attractive, and have an inborn elegance 
that Paris itself would be proud to acknowledge as 
its own. 

We stayed with some very charming cousins of 
ours, who live in a pretty house outside the city, 
and there we never had to suffer the inconvenience 
of soot from the factories. 

One of the great attractions of Pittsburgh is to 
drive in the evening on the hill that dominates the 
city and get a view of " Hell with the lid off," 
as that place has been called. It certainly is one 
of the most remarkable impressions I have expe- 
rienced, to see those many blast-furnaces belching 
forth flashes of fire that illuminate the whole city. 

125 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

The}' look like giant fire- works on a Fourth of July ; 
the town seems to be in full festivity — and what 
a feast ! ! ! 

In contemplating this gorgeous fairy scene, it 
seemed to me that I could somewhat understand for 
the first time in m}^ life, the Roman Emperor Nero, 
who set fire to Rome for the beauty of the spec- 
tacle. But unlike Nero, I had no lute to play upon 
while contemplating the scene, and my sister had 
left her flute at home. Had I omitted to say that 
she plays this instrument? 

In the day time the town does not present the 
same artistic attraction, but it is splendid in its 
ugliness, it is, if I may use the word, the most co- 
lossal sight I have ever seen. I never thought it 
possible for one single town to contain such a 
number of factory chimneys. I am told they suc- 
ceed each other without intermission along the 
river for 48 miles. 

I spoke three consecutive mornings at the West- 
inghouse factories, encouraging the men to work 
harder if possible, and endeavoring to make them 
realize that their war work was as important as if 
they were in France fighting in the trenches. 
Truly if these men were to stop making munitions, 
their own brothers and sons would get killed with- 
out even having the chance to defend themselves 
against a well-armed enemy. 

The workmen were so responsive and patriotic 

126 



On a Mission for the American Government 

and, although so far away from the battle-fields, 
I found them most eager to hear what was going 
Dn over there, where their sons, brothers, and 
friends were fighting for the right cause. The men 
of the Westinghouse factories had all bought Lib- 
Brty Bonds in the last drive, and they certainly 
won my admiration. 

These meetings were generally held out-of-doors, 
md my audiences varied from several hundred to 
seven and eight thousand men and women. 

I shall always remember one man, a workman, 
^ho came up with many others to shake hands with 
one when the talk was over. Tears were streaming 
down his weather-beaten face, and he took my 
tiands in his two big ones, and his whole heart was 
in the grip he gave me. His emotion was such he 
30uld hardly speak. 

'^ God bless you, my dear little lady," he mur- 
mured, " and God bless your brave country." And 
^vith bent head he walked away. 



127 



CHAPTER Xir 

^' PROPER " AMERICA 

WHEN we sailed for the United States we 
thought that we were going to the land 
of liberty, where its happy people could 
quietly enjoy life and do just as they chose. I be- 
gan to Avonder whether this was not an illusion 
when, there in free America, I read on the table in 
our room, in one of the best hotels in the Middle 
West : 

*^ The X — Hotel calls your attention to the fol- 
lowing fifth rule : ^ It is customary to have the 
door open at least six inches when entertaining 
some one of the opposite sex in private rooms. ' " 

How fearfully moral ! I suggest that if the X — 
Hotel wishes its guests strictly to comply with this 
rule, a yard measure be attached to the door to 
insure the correct measurement. 

Our great French writer of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, Balzac, says in one of his novels entitled " La 
Peau de Chagrin,^' that liberty gives birth to an- 
archy, anarchy leads to despotism, and that despo- 
tism brings back to liberty. 

128 



Proper '' America 



^^ Millions of men," exclaims one of his heroes, 
" have perished without being able to bring about 
the triumjjh of any of these systems. Might we 
not admit that human thought perpetually evolves 
in circles. When mankind believes it has pro- 
gressed, it has but turned toward another pole." 

America in many respects is to-day steering for 
her moral pole toward despotism. Although a de- 
mocracy, this country is going through a phase of 
imperialism such as few other nations have been 
able to attain. 

This crisis is most likely due to the state of 
war, and it will probably be followed by a phase 
of reaction. But the United States such as I have 
known them in 1918 are governed by a President, 
dictator or imperator, who himself is governed by 
a power above him called Public Opinion, con- 
trolled partly by his own agents. 

Personally, I have always held the opinion that 
the best form of government — thereby I mean 
the one that gives the best results — for periods of 
unrest, which so far seem to be the normal con- 
dition of most countries, is that of a monarchy ad- 
ministered by a clever, though broad-minded, ty- 
rant. Here I am using the word monarchy in its 
broadest sense, the one that a French philosopher 
gave to it when he declared that there existed three 
forms of government — the monarchy or the state 
ruled by one man ; the oligarchy, ruled by several ; 

129 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

and anarchy or the result of the state ruled by the 
masses. In 1918, America, England, and France, 
were proving once more that a nation rises to its 
maximum of strength when its whole power lies 
virtually in the hands of an efficient, clear-minded, 
and energetic man, such as are President Wilson, 
Lloyd George, and Clemenceau. 

As I wrote before, America was then undergoing 
a period of moral despotism, which, I believe, will 
bring remarkable results to the country and help 
to carry it to the zenith of its power. 

Although I have mentioned several times in this 
book my favorable opinion towards cocktails and 
my finding them personally of highly satisfactory 
effect, yet I do believe that the suppression of al- 
coholism in the United States will help in genera- 
tions to come to build up far stronger, far healthier, 
and far more beautiful physiques than any other 
race on this planet has known. 

One of our biggest wine merchants in Bordeaux 
was lately interviewed by American officials on this 
subject : 

" True, the wine trade," said the Frenchman, 
" will suffer considerably when America goes dry, 
yet when alcoholism has been eradicated from your 
country, no other nation will be able to compete 
with you.^' 

I also remember an American telling me that the 
States in the Union which have voted prohibition 

130 



Proper '' America 



have already risen in industrial and commercial 
production far beyond the others. 

One of the ideals that Americans seem to have 
most at heart is that of improving their race by 
every means. And it is apparently with this object 
that they are endeavoring to stamp out alcoholism 
and the absorption of all drugs of the nature of 
stimulants. 

I heard, although I cannot vouch for the accu- 
racy of this statement, that Calif ornians were seri- 
ously investigating the question of suppressing 
coffee and even tea as producing a baneful influence 
on the nerves. This may possibly be an exaggera- 
tion. Again I remember having more than once 
been requested to enlist as a propagandist against 
the " poisonous influence " of nicotine. But I was 
forced to reply that I feel no inclination toward 
the suppression of the pleasures of this world. 

After one of my lectures in Indianapolis a lady 
drew me mysteriously into a corner, declaring that 
she had a communication to make of the utmost 
importance. One may imagine my astonishment 
when she drew out from the depths of her bag a 
pamphlet entitled " A Puff of Smoke/' which she 
thrust into my hands, hoping therewith to convert 
me and to make me renounce those highly danger- 
ous and pernicious cigarettes, capable of bringing 
to pass all the disasters under the sun. I found 
out afterward, when I had perused the contents of 

131 



A FjTiich woman's Impressions of America 

this little book, that the " Tuff of Smoke " was a 
real league with headquarters in Chicago. 

Another lady one day remarked to me while I 
was traveling in Montana that cigarettes were for- 
bidden in that state, though cigars and pipes were 
allowed. And she added to my amazement : 

" When I send ready-made packages to the boys 
who are fighting in France, I carefully take out 
beforehand the tobacco they contain." Poor boys ! 

This poor lady certainly had not the remotest 
idea of the soldier's life in the trenches, when for 
hours, days, months in the long winter time, he 
has to remain waiting and watching in the mud, 
the wet, and the cold. 

If I appear to be criticizing " Proper America,^' 
yet I do believe that the whole nation is funda- 
mentally right in trying to suppress any drug that 
weakens the organism ; and this war has certainly 
proved the value of physical resistance. 

Some medical authorities hold the theory that 
the decline of nations is due largely to the poor 
state of health of a great percentage of the persons 
in a country. They have tried to prove that the 
decline of the Greek civilization could be traced to 
the result of malaria, which the Persians brought 
into the country during the Median Wars. This 
fever is also supposed to have been carried by the 
Greeks to Italy, and to have played a great part in 
the downfall of the Roman empire. 

132 



Proper " America 



So the experiences of the past are lessons for 
the future, and America, I suppose, is but strug- 
gling- for her life when she tries to protect her 
people against the dangers of Europe or the Far 
Kast. I>ut it all depends on the articles that fall 
under the prohibition laws. The suppression of 
wine, opium, cocaine, tobacco, may make the coun- 
try healthier, but what will become of great 
America, if she is ever tempted to prohibit kissing? 
The following humorous article, published by a 
Seattle paper, is an indication of the present rather 
puritanical tendency prevailing all through the 
Union. 

REGULATING THE KISS 

New York is so busy with other matters that it is a marvel 
that its people have any time for war. At Coney Island it 
has been made unlawful to kiss. Four persons were ar- 
rested for this high crime last Sunday and twelve people 
were warned. The fellow who stands at the front door of 
his home and kisses his wife good-by for the day, may not be 
back for several days if the policeman on the beat sees 
him. Out in the parks the police have acquired the habit 
of watching couples who exhibit any tendency toward kiss- 
ing, waiting for the crime to be committed. If the couple 
hold hands it is regarded as probable that an arrest may soon 
be made. The ban, of course, is entirely in the nature of a 
sanitary regulation. 

In New York proper, it appears, the health department is 
willing to permit a variety of denatured kiss. Its advice to 
the public is not to kiss " except through a handkerchief." 
But the whole business is confusing. A Coney Island couple, 

133 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

who thought the metropolitan health board's advice was good, 
and were trying to employ a bandana, got thirty days. No 
doubt any couple that would sit in a public park and delib- 
erately try to kiss through a handkerchief deserves thirty 
days. However we cannot understand what all this has to do 
with the winning the war. New York appears to be perfectly 
willing to go without wheat bread to whale the Hun, but when 
it comes to kisses, it is necessary to make it a matter of 
police regulation. 

When the Spanish influenza spread like an epi- 
demic over the world, I remember reading the fol- 
lowing advice printed on the windows of a tram- 
car in Washington: 

" Cover your mouth, smother your cough, 
don't sneeze, no kissing allowed." 

I may be unobservant, but I have never yet seen 
any creatures so homeless as having nowhere else 
to kiss in but a tram-car. Have you? 



134 



CHAPTER XIII 

IN THE MIDDLE WEST 

AMERICANS have very original ideas about 
their town-buildings, and as they have had 
to construct a great number during the 
past fifty years, they have had several generations 
of engineers who have devised and perfected the 
best plans of laying out a city according to all the 
latest principles of hygiene. 

So far as I have been able to judge during our 
rapid traveling, I think that Americans in the 
Middle West begin by building a town, to the center 
of which they confine all smoke, noise, firemen, busi- 
ness, factories, and street-cars. Then around this 
town they build another one, in which are their 
dwelling-houses, wives, children, friends, pet ani- 
mals, and there they return every night. 

The central town is as noisy, as ugly, as inhar- 
monious, as intensive in its traffic, as the surround- 
ing one is beautiful, quiet, peaceful, full of flowers, 
green lawns, picturesque mansions, and lovely chil- 
dren. 

Some papers in speaking about my speeches men- 
tioned the fact that I had the " quaintest accent," 

135 



A Frcncliwomaii s Impressions of America 

aud I discovered that by that they meant the " Eng- 
lish accent/' It is too delightful for words, for I 
expected that a " quaint accent '^ would at least 
be a French one. 

" I know a celebrated singer in this country," 
said a friend to me, " who, although of Polish 
origin, was born and lived all her life in America. 
Her voice was wonderful, but she failed at first to 
win public favor. " Try and sing with a Polish 
accent/' said her singing master. So she studied 
very hard to change her pronunciation, her " Th's '^ 
and her '* O's," and she won tremendous success 
by simulating the foreigner. When after many 
years she again met her former master, she ad- 
dressed him with a frightfully strong Polish accent. 
Putting his hands over his ears he cried : " Stop it, 
stop it ; it 's no good with me, for I taught you the 
trick ! " 

The Middle West reminded me of my own beloved 
country; the landscape is very like certain parts 
of France, and this made it very dear to us. 

In Dayton, I spoke twice at the Cash Register 
Factory, which was manufacturing great quanti- 
ties of Liberty motors for aeroplanes. After hav- 
ing spent a night in President Patterson's home, 
where we were allotted a wonderful room with 
twelve windows looking upon the gardens, we were 
asked to attend a meeting held by our host in his 
factory. 

136 



In the Middle West 



Many hundreds of workmen and head employees 
were present at the lecture. The subject of the talk 
was profit-sharing, and Mr. Patterson not only de- 
veloped his theme very cleverly, but in turns called 
upon several of his employees to explain the benefits 
that could in this way be reajjcd, both by the capi- 
talists and the workmen, and to give their jiersonal 
appreciation of the question. 

An immense poster was placarded on the plat- 
form in full view of the audience with the following 
thirty suggestions : 

Benefits of Being a Profit-Sharer 



1. Stops waste. 

2. Makes you think. 

3. Develops character. 

4. Increases your loyalty. 

5. Stirs ambition within you. 

6. Gives you more initiative. 

7. Makes you part of the company. 

8. Gives you more responsibility. 

9. Pays you more for working more. 

10. Makes you dissatisfied to stand still. 

11. Gives you more incentive to co-operate. 

12. Brings nearer the real brotherhood of man. 

13. Makes an inspector out of each profit-sharer. 

14. Creates more persistency in your daily work. 

15. Increases a man's confidence and self-respect. 

16. Gives you more personal interest in your work. 

17. Makes your wife more interested in the company. 

18. Gives you the heljjf ul association of strong men. 

137 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

19. Gives you greater incentive to stay on your job. 

20. Changes the critical attitude of some outsiders. 

21. Makes you more free to offer helpful criticisms. 

22. Is the connecting link between Capital and Labor. 

23. Enables you to get projects from the company's capital. 

24. Enables you to share in the company's opportunities. 

25. Makes you a better workman and more useful citizen. 

26. Gives you more reason to put your heart in your work. 

27. Makes company loss your loss, and company's gain 
your gain. 

28. Enables you to share in the democracy of a big 
organization. 

29. Creates contentment with things company considers 
necessary. 

30. Enables you to share company's good will, which is 
more than wages. 

Honest effort and capital are both necessary to success. 

I do not doubt that when profit-sharing has been 
made practical of application in most factories, the 
great problem of capital and labor will have been 
solved, because it will create a bond between them, 

— and, I believe, the only bond that can exist be- 
tween these two antagonistic groups of humanity, 

— that of a common interest.. 

But it is true that in the present state of condi- 
tions the system of profit-sharing cannot be finan- 
cially applied to all factories, as, naturally, it can- 
not be undertaken except by those that are particu- 
larly prosperous and offer a stability and a steady 
growth in their affairs. I wonder how the work- 
men would like to share the losses. 

138 



In the Middle West 



We were incessantly traveling at meteor-like 
pace. As I wrote to my mother : 

Our life is a strenuous one, and my thoughts are entirely 
given up to two ideas: the cause, the work, talking to thou- 
sands of people to help them to understand the war and fan 
their patriotism. 

And, secondly, trying to snatch every moment possible for 
rest and keeping fit for the many months' work ahead of me. 

I have just been counting that in six days I talked to over 
thirty thousand people of all classes and distinctions. The 
number of my speeches varies from five to six a day. 

In this way the message spreads like oil on the ocean. 
And audiences in America are certainly the most responsive 
I have ever found. 

We met so many people every day, that both my 
sister and myself had the greatest difficulty not only 
in remembering, but also in catching names. 

Introductions are made here as in France. The 
mistress of the house will say : 

" Mrs. Smith, allow me to introduce to you Mr. 
Brown.'' 

But what ensues is not quite as it is at home. 
Mrs. Smith and Mr. Brown shake hands vigorously, 
or rather with a decidedly muscular expression of 
sincerity, and Mrs. Smith pronounces the stereo- 
typed phrase, " Very glad to meet you, Mr. Brown." 
And Mr. Brown declares as if they were performing 
a duet, " Very glad to meet you, Mrs. Smith." 

Unfortunately I have a very bad ear for foreign 

139 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

names, and I never felt sure enough of myself to 
get beyond, " Delighted to see you." Invariably 
the name escaped me. 

My sister suffers from the same defect as I. One 
day, however, I was perfectly astounded to hear 
her say : 

" So glad to meet you, Mr. Springstrait-Getup." 

And she rang out the Springstrait-Getup with a 
triumphant look at me. I felt very small indeed. 

(Mr. S G was the president of some works 

we had visited.) When we got back to the hotel 
I congratulated her. 

" What progress you are making, dear : were you 
not afraid of catching that queer name wrong? " 

She eyed me maliciously. 

" I knew you would be astou*nded at my clever- 
ness, but now I'll confess the name was written up 
on the office door." 

On the other hand I suppose many Americans 
who have never been abroad would be greatly 
amused if they witnessed our introductions in 
France. 

"Allow me to introduce to you Monsieur de 
T , Vicomtesse de N ." 

Monsieur de T would bend over the lady^s 

hand and kiss it. 

" Madame, I lay my homage at your feet." 

This is the height of politeness, as many French- 

140 



In the Middle West 



men do not kiss a lady's hand, but they always 
show this — to foreigners — exaggerated deferen- 
tial attitude toward women in society. Even a 
little boy of four years old in France, if he is 
brought up in the right tradition of polished man- 
ners, will always kiss a lady's hand, so that when 
he grows up this habit has become second nature. 
I have known some men who even kiss their 
mother's hand in deferential greeting. Girls, from 
their childhood until the day of their marriage, 
make a curtsey to the married women whom they 
meet in society, not a mere bob, but a real court 
curtsey for which they have been specially trained. 

One evening at a dinner-party in Cincinnati I 
expressed my admiration of the intelligence of the 
average American, which is certainly very superior 
to that of similar classes in Europe. 

" Do you know," answered a doctor, next to whom 
I was sitting, " that in lower Kentucky there are 
three million people who cannot read or write, and 
who speak the English of Shakespeare's time? " 

" I am very astonished to hear this," I answered. 
" I thought that education was compulsory in 
America." 

" It is," explained the doctor, " but not in all the 
States. In the South, for instance, the percentage 
of illiterate people runs very high on account of 
the colored race." 

141 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

'' I think/' he added, " that you will be interested 
to hear some of the answers that a soldier gave me 
the other day in Camp X , where I was lectur- 
ing and doing some Y.M.C.A. work. As you 
know, the ignorance of some of the enlisted men is 
sometimes amazing. 

" The question asked by me was : 

" ' Who is commander-in-chief of the American 
military forces in France ? ' 

" A soldier raised his hand with a ready answer. 

" ' I know,' he said. * It 's Wilson.' 

"After this enlightening reply, I questioned him 
again. 

" ' Are we fighting with the Italians or against 
them?' 

" ' Against them.' 

" ' When you get to France,' I asked, ' are you 
sure that you will be glad to give a thrashing to the 
Italians? ' 

" ^ I sure will thrash all those I am told to, and 
will be right glad to do it.' 

"And the soldier emphasized his words with such 
vigor that there was no denying he had in him the 
stuff that makes a good fighter, although he was so 
lamentably lacking in knowledge of the politics of 
the world." 

One of our greatest surprises in the United States 
was finding how much the young generation of the 

142 



In the Middle West 



country loves to get a dipping in water. Americans 
are an ampliibious race. Swimming, diving, and 
plunging, come to them instinctively. Never in my 
whole life have I met so many people in bathing 
costumes. It is almost a summer uniform — and 
truly a very becoming one. Almost invariably the 
men wear short black tights, which display their 
supple and muscular bodies to the greatest ad- 
vantage. 

In France we rarely swim except at the sea-side, 
whereas here you almost fall into a crowded swim- 
ming-pool at every step you take, in the public 
parks, at country-clubs, and very often in hotels 
and in private houses. In many private tanks in 
the West the water is heated in winter so that it be- 
comes a delightful bath in the open air. 

I am often tempted into believing that the Ameri- 
cans of to-day, and specially the " Pacific Coast- 
ers,'' are reincarnated egos of the ancient Greeks. 
They have the same love of nature, of out-of-door 
exercises, and the same cult for the beauty of 
healthy physiques. 

We were dining in Cincinnati one night on the 
terrace of the country-club, enjoying the sight of 
a glorious sunset that illumined the whole sky. 
Three to four hundred people were dining there, 
as I had been asked to deliver an address during 
the evening, and this was to be followed by a dance. 

143 



A Frctichtvomnn's Imprcssious of America 

At the table uext to ours I uoticeil a j^roui) of ten or 
twelve yoiinii: men and ^irls, the latter in lovely 
eveninii:-U(>wns and h>okini;- as fivsh as tlowers. 
They mysteriously withdivw at the end of the meal, 
and a few minutes hiter the sound of nuM*ry peals 
of laughter and noisy si>Iaslies eaui»ht my ear. 
Leaning* over the balustrade, I i*ecognized the group 
of young people, now in bathing suits, disporting 
themselves in the swimming-pool just below the ter- 
race and having high fun in the water. 

Half an hour later they reappeared once more 
in their evening clothes, ready for the dance, the 
girls looking lovelier than ever owing to the brisk 
exercise they hail taken. This proved to me that 
our European doctors are a tritle timorous in attirm- 
ing that you will probably die of congestion if you 
plunge into cold water after a heavy meal. 

Befoi*e going to the United States I had heard 
many Americans complaining of the personal way 
in which they were spoken of in the papers of their 
country. My impression on the contrary was quite 
the reverse; the articles that were published about 
our tour and ourselves wei*e all, without any excep- 
tion whatsoever, exti*emely courteous, even over- 
complimentary, and the personal touch in them 
invariably amused us intenselv. 

We were particularly delighted with one reporter 
in Indianapolis who gave the following account of 
his iutervie>v w ith us : 



In the Middle West 



Reporter's debut with Countess 

Trying event. Discovers she speaks English and uses an 
American Fountain Pen 



You can't always tell. Armed with a dozen or more bro- 
midic French sentences picked up a long time ago in a remote 
college, a reporter for " The Times " walked with fear and 
trembling into the Severin Hotel this morning to interview 
a countess. A regular, dyed-in-the-silk countess. 

First of all the correct pronunciation of her name had to 
be acquired. Printed, her name reads Comtesse Madeleine de 
Bryas. Says the clerk, " Her name is Dee Bry-us," — just 
like that. 

Next, what does one call a countess to her face. Is it 
" your grace " or " your worship " or " your excellency," or 
what is it? The reporter could not remember to save his neck. 
Never had seen a countess before, to say nothing of talking 
to one. 

" I '11 just call her countess and take my chances," said the 
newspaper man. 

Golden-haired vision appears 



Over the telephone a date was made. Up went the re- 
porter. On the eleventh floor of the Severin in the northeast 
comer is a fine little suite. Walking through the plush the 
reporter found a seat. Stumbled only once. Into the room 
came a vision, golden-haired and smiling. The reporter is in 
Class IV, but was rattled. He had seen an old-fashioned 
ink-well on an escritoire or writing-desk they call it in the 
United States. 

" Ha, seventeenth century atmosphere," thought the reporter, 
spying a quill pen in the ink-well. 

The vision with the golden hair sat down, still smiling. 

145 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

" II fait tres chaiid," said the reporter, meaning, *' It is 
mighty hot." Had to say something quickly, and he re- 
membered that. 

The vision smiled, and said in the finest possible English, 
" Yes, it is warm." 

There was perhaps five minutes of talk. Reporter arose to 
go. The vision said: 

" Would n^t you like to see the countess before you go ? 
She ^11 be dressed in a minute." 

Not her maid, only a sister 



" Oh boy, have I been talking to the maid or something, all 
this time?" 

Out came another vision if not more so. Her hair was 
golden, too. 

They looked alike. No wonder; they are sisters. The re- 
porter had been talking to Mile, de Bryas, who, by the way, 
pronounces her name as follows, " Duh Breeah." Not that 
she insists; only that is correct. 

The countess shook hands. Not up in the air like she was 
reaching for something, but Indiana fashion, just like she was 
glad to see you. 

. . . The countess speaks in factories, in theaters — every- 
where. She will go to the coast before returning to France. 
She does not bother with a maid. Her sister is her companion 
and secretary. Early in the war the countess caught the idea 
of war service. She applied herself at once and has worked 
constantly since. Her love of France and America is re- 
ward enough, she says. 

The countess and her sister had an engagement. Before the 
reporter left he could not resist speaking of the quill. 

" Do you write with that ? " he asked. 

^* Goodness, no," the countess replied. " I write with this," 

146 



In the Middle West 



She jerked from somewhere a perfectly ^ood American 
fountain pen. 

The pu])Ii(*ity for onr tour was directly con- 
trolled from WaKhin^ton by the Committee on Pub- 
lic Information, which sent on photographs and a 
few notes of information to the various towns to 
which we were scheduled to go. Our arrival was 
always announced in the local papers a few days 
before we made our appearance, and we generally 
wired to the authorities the time of our arrival. 

Then we would buy the papers on the train, and 
read what the local authorities had planned out 
for us. The number of speeches I was intended to 
deliver always appalled me, and reading what I 
had to do in itself made me collapse. Each town 
seemed to think it was the only one I was to speak 
in, and therefore prepared as huge a program as 
the one I had just filled in the cities I had pre- 
viously visited, and as the one I knew in all cer- 
tainty was awaiting me to be gone through at my 
next stopping-place on the route. 

We were generally greeted on the platform by a 
delegation of the city authorities. This was al- 
ways done so heartily that we never had the im- 
pression of being in a foreign land. We felt that 
we were of them, and after the formal introduction 
considered them as old friends. In fact the only 
sad point in the journey was having to part from 

147 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

them just as we were getting to know them and be- 
coming true friends. 

However, I sincerely think that at first sight 
we puzzled and disappointed many of those charm- 
ing people who greeted us at the stations of the 
different cities we went to, and this is why : French 
women have the reputation of being small and dark, 
and so that was the type looked for on the arrival 
of the train. Therefore, when two tall and fair- 
haired sisters descended from the Pullman car, a 
puzzled expression was clearly visible on the faces 
of the welcoming group on the platform. 

Afterwards we had to explain that America was 
the cause for this "error of type,'' our mother being 
a tall and blond American of English descent. 

" Why, you are only a girl ! " several ladies re- 
marked to me, sometimes almost with a sigh of 
relief. 

" But what did you expect? " I inquired. 

" We really thought you were going to be an old, 
old lady, looking tremendously imposing, some one 
whom we should have to treat ceremoniously." 
And they laughed over their mistake. 

The vision of the French vieille dame flitted 
across my brain, the kind that wears a little bonnet 
and goes to church every morning at dawn. Will 
that ever happen to us I wonder. 

Joined to the welcoming group were often sev- 
eral reporters and photographers, and it can easily 

148 



In the Middle West 



be imagined that interviews had to be granted im- 
mediately to these eager news-seekers. 

The photographers also wished to publish our 
photographs in their papers. So to that effect we 
had had some photographs taken in New York. 
But then we found they generally preferred pub- 
lishing their own particular snapshots; therefore, 
on coming out of the station, even after twenty- 
four hours of Pullman-car traveling, they would 
insist on taking our pictures. 

We often had to pose in front of the station while 
the photographers, as busy as bees, were buzzing 
around us, making any number of suggestions to 
get us at our best, such as : " Raise your head ; 
turn a little; smile; now to the right; to the left; 
stand sideways; not so near, please; there now, I 
think it will be all right this time ! " 

And the next day we had the joy of contemplating 
in the local papers two grinning old women with 
dark hair, quoted as having arrived in the town on 
a mission for the Committee on Public Information. 
But, strange to say, they bore our name, and 
stranger still, they had given an identical inter- 
view with ours ! The main difference was that we 
are young and blond, and have not yet been accused 
of turning our smiles into grins of the Cheshire-Cat 
nature. 

Notwithstanding this, the photographs were 
often very good, and good or bad, we always en- 

149 



A Frenclncomans Impressions of America 

joved opening the papers to see what the camera 
had been willing to make of us. 

There was never any need to ask if a State were 
" dry ■ • or not ; — it was very easily discovered and 
in this way. 

" Would you like to stop at my house before 
dining at the country-club? And I will mix you 
a cocktail ! " 

Then this undoubtedly was a dry State! 

At the country-club of such states non-alcoholic 
drinks only were to be found, so for this reason 
the forced-prohibitionists had stocked their cellars 
with plenty of the necessary ingredients for the 
making of violently strong pick-me-ups I 

In the non-prohibited states we were never offered 
cocktails, this beverage probably being looked upon 
as a necessity of daily life, and so one of the easiest- 
provided for. And frankly we will confess that 
it certainly was in the *' prohibited " states that 
we most enjoyed cocktails, and this after all is but 
natural, when we remember *' forbidden fruit." 

This leads me to the conclusion that if ever it 
were my lot to govern a country, I would immedi- 
ately set to Avork to prohibit all virtues on the prin- 
ciple that the people, urged by the spirit of contra- 
diction, might the more readily attain perfection. 



150 



CHAPTER XIV 

ST. LOUIS 

Now tell me how it is that you two young 
women can travel from coast to coast 
alone, in a country unknown to you, with- 
out either a maid or a manager? " 

We were asked this question by a charming 
American lady, who added that she herself would 
never have dared undertake such a trip under such 
conditions. 

I then explained to her that alone I should never 
have been able to do the journey, and that it was 
my sister's role to look after everything apart from 
the .speech-making. She was my manager, inquir- 
ing about the trains, taking the tickets, reserving 
seats, telegraphing ahead to announce our arrival ; 
keeping up an important correspondence with the 
different governmental organizations, with my pub- 
licity agents, with the various committees I was 
founding for the benefit of Miss Anne Morgan's 
work in the devastated areas of France. 

When I was too exhausted to see the reporters 
myself, my sister gave the interviews; she also 
had to look after more material things, such as 

151 



A Frenclnt'o man's Impresdons of America 

liaviug our dresses pressed out so that we might 
always be preseutable, and getting our hiundrj 
work done, which in the circumstances was often a 
difficult problem. These seem to be very trivial 
details, but they certainly were important, as we 
seldom remained moi^e than forty-eight hours in 
any city. 

Another of the important things she had to at- 
tend to was answering the telephone, which from 
seven o'clock in the morning until late at night 
might be expected to ring at any time, and which, 
in fact, generally rang incessantly. 

So owing to my sister s splendid help, it was pos- 
sible for me to keep my thoughts entirely centered 
on my speeches, and to deliver from three to six a 
day — which is an unusual number — although we 
had to spend almost every other night in railway 
traveling in the intense American heat. 

As we were traveling from town to town it was 
impossible for us to let our people at home know 
where to address our letters. Therefore we asked 
Morgan's bank in New York to forward our mail 
to the different towns we should stop at, and so we 
often received shoals of letters all on the same day. 
I remember in St. Louis receiving twelve letters 
from home, among them letters from our father and 
mother, who were writing under the bombardment 
of " Grosse Bertha," the long-range gun. 

And then we learned that a shell had fallen at 

152 



St. Louis 

the end of the avenue we live in, into a square where 
a market was being he*ld. Our own eook had had 
a narrow escaj^e as she had been buying vegetables 
from the very women, who, five minutes later, be- 
came the innocent victims of the Krupp gun. 

Such news increased our anxiety, and from that 
time we were always wondering in what part of 
Paris the shells were exploding, and whether our 
parents and friends would come out of the bombard- 
ment alive. Nevertheless, we preferred to know 
what was really hapi:)ening in our dear country, so 
as to be able to give direct news from ^' over there '' 
to the Americans, and so bring the war still nearer 
to them. 

The spirit was such in France that although the 
guns from the front could be heard from our house, 
our parents were most wonderfully optimistic and 
had the greatest faith in the final victory. But 
mingled with the joy of getting news from home 
was often the great sadness of learning of the 
death of many friends. In almost every letter we 
were told of the loss of one or several of the boys 
we had been brought ux> with, friends we had al- 
ways known, and whom we never thought of having 
to part with so soon. 

But we could not allow ourselves to get depressed, 
and so we tried to remember only such phrases as 
the following one written by my father: 

" I am writing to you under the bombardment, 

153 



^i FrcncJixcojuau's Imprcs.^ions of America 

shells are falling all around iis, but we are still 
optimistic. Paris liajs the smile ! " 

The etl'eot those words produced upon us was 
magical ; we felt we had no cause to doubt the issue 
of the war when those who were close by had such 
faith and moral courage. And so our parents were 
over there in the heat of the struggle, and we, their 
daughters, struggling for the same great cause, — 
iilthough only in the heat of the plains of the ^lid- 
die West, — could sympathize with them as though 
Ave, too, had been there. 

ATe were beginning to be exhausted by the hot 
weather, the rapid traveling, and the very crowded 
programs to be carried out in the various towns. 

Despite the war, the trains were tilled with pas- 
sengers. Americans travel with amazing facility; 
a two days' journey is a short trip to them, aiul a 
night in a rullman-car almost a rest, for in this 
way they ai»e far from telephones, social and busi- 
ness friends, and oltices. The inhabitants of the 
United States are certainly the most daring and 
reckless peo[)le in the world, and yet to my great 
astonishment they are mortally afraid of — Hies. 
Poor, tiny, stupid tlies ! 

" We loathe them," an American tried to explain 
to me in the train. ^' They are responsible for the 
spreading of so many diseases, iind besides that they 
are hateful, hateful, hateful ! " he concluded with 
great energy. 

154 



St. Louis 

To UH this hatred Haamoj] almoHt out of prox)or- 
tion. Faircy a Htron^, powerful Middlo-WeHtemer 
in fits if a tiny, wee fly huzzen in his direction I 

This reminded me of a humonstic drawing that 
appeared in one of our papers at the bej^nnin^ of 
1915. A Red Cross nurse was seen picking up her 
skirts, jumping in terror to a chair, and staring 
down at a mouse which was scrambling away over 
the floor. 

"Oh I'' said th(i trwnbling iled Cross heroine, 
" I Ve been in the battle of the Marne, but this 
mouse is more than my nerves ca^^j stand." 

"As you have noticcHl," our traveling companion 
added, "all over America, the railway companies 
have metallic window-screens put uj) in the trains 
during hot weather, as is done in most houses, in 
order to keep out those terribre flies.'' 

The service in the Middle Western trains, as in 
the East, is still perfoiTned by darkies. On leaving 
Evansville, Indiana, we w^ent into the dining-car. 
At the same moment a man from Missouri arrived 
in the restaurant, holding a five-dollar bill in his 
hand. 

" I want to reserve a table," he declared loudly. 
" Who 's the head nigger boy? " 

A darky came up to him and, with the most amus- 
ing dignity, he said in a f reezring voice : 

" I wish to explain that there are no nigger boys 
here, sir. There are only colored gentlemen." 

155 



A Frcnvhtcoman^s Ifnprcss'ious of ^im erica 

'* Very well," answoretl the Missouri man, *' if 
there are only eoUnvd gentlemen on this train, I 
suppose 1 will have to put this baek in my poeket.'- 
He looked down at the bill he wais holding ostenta- 
tiously. 

'' Wait a minute, sir; oh I please wait a minute/' 
said the darky, speaking with volubility. " I 'm 
the head nigger boy, and all this black trash here 
will tell you it 's true." 

On arriving in St. Louis, my sister's first pre- 
occupation wai=! to see that I should not have to 
speak more than three times in the same day. The 
Committee on Public Information had also wired 
from AVashington asking that my speeches be re- 
duced to that number. But, alas I reduction seems 
an impossibility in this country where everything 
is made to increase and the spirit of the whole na- 
tion is progressive. And so I was introduced to 
the public by the chairman of the chamber of com- 
mence, a very kind-hearted and witty man, with 
these words : 

** We have had strict orders from Washington not 
to let our guest speak more than three times a day, 
and so as we till have the reputation of being 
very obedient, we will not allow her to address the 
public oftener than live or six times in twenty-four 
houi-s." 

I sometimes felt tempted to copy an American, 
who, being asked one day to make a speech, got up 

156 



St. Jjouih 

and rfM!iU'(J Wnt foJJowinj^ \\\XUt pieces of vavH^t to hin 
iunnYA'A aufJic^ruMi: 

"A vvJHO olfJ owl Ijvfjf] in «n o?i.k, 
Thf; rnon; h(i HfiW, thf; Jokh h(; spoko, 
'i'ljf; JcKH h(; Kpoko, thfi rnon; hft hfjard, 
Now f shall b(; liko that wIho old birrl." 

Then very coolly \\(t nat down a^ain. T am quito 
ftonvincf'd Uiat Amc^ncanH ant i\\(t ^ro.aUtHt lovf^r-H 
of Kpooclios I havo (!V(^r known ; no othor race in the 
whole* world can equal thcni in their capacity for 
list(?nin^ to a talker. It has been said that a 
Frenchman, when drunk, makes love, an English- 
juan fights, a German Hin^H, but that a tnie Amer- 
ican will nevf^r henitate to make speeches. As- 
suredly there is profound psychology in this state- 
ment. 

St. Louis is one of tiie principal German cities 
in the States, therefore Allied propaganda was 
greatly needed, above all as the Tjermans living 
then^ are vcA-y wealthy, and occupy the first posi- 
tions in the city. We were shown the German 
rjuarter as being one of the attractive sights, and 
we admired the beautiful houses separated by grftan 
lawns; they were distinctiv^e evidence that the in- 
habitants had been successful in their business 
enterpnses. 

Th(t German question was a very difficult and 
complex problem to solve, and tact and intelligence 

157 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

were needed to make the German-Americans enter 
the conflict against their own race. The number 
living in America is very great, and it is easy to 
see why the country did not sooner enter into the 
war, for it must be remembered that many Germans 
living in the States had members of their family in 
Europe fighting against the Allies. 

Therefore it required a special education of the 
masses to make them realize that it was not their 
own people, those of their own blood, that they were 
to fight, but German militarism — that powerful 
organization that was spreading death and bar- 
barity over the face of the whole earth. 

The German propaganda for many years past 
had been so wonderfully carried out by German 
agents that it was often thought in the United 
States that German art, German kultur, German 
philosophy, in fact, all that was German, was far 
superior to any other kind, and that Germany was 
the superior European country. Considering this, 
one can understand what a diflScult task it was for 
any government to destroy an ideal that had been 
brought about by years of such active propaganda. 
In a conversation on this subject I remember say- 
ing to an American : 

" The German-Americans seem to be very patri- 
otic if we can judge them by their actions." 

" Certainly they try to prove their patriotism," 
was the reply, " by subscribing to the Liberty Loans 

158 



St, Louis 



and giving large sums to the governmental organi- 
zations such as the Bed Cross and the War Saving 
Stamps." 

" But are they sincere? " was our next question. 

" The first generation established in this coun- 
try," answered my informer, " generally emigrated 
to avoid military service in his own land. And 
most of them are willing, even glad to fight for the 
destruction of German militarism." 

" Are those of succeeding generations as eager 
to fight against the Yaterland of their parents, as 
those of the first? " I asked again. 

" I do not think so, and this is why. The fol- 
lowing generations, having made large fortunes, 
cross the Atlantic to visit the Old Continent. They 
naturally feel attracted to the land of their fathers, 
and visit it with filial feelings. There they are 
often received by the notabilities of the country, 
even by the kaiser himself, and naturally return 
with the satisfaction that such a reception could 
not fail to have produced. Bu.t on the whole they 
are all accomplishing their duty and backing up 
the Government." 

So it may be concluded that the unity that 
reigned in the States during the war was worthy 
of the greatest admiration. For the nation was 
like one single man behind the President, ready to 
support him to the end. We speak in France with 
pride of our "Union Sacree," but the unity in 

159 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

America was, if possible, still greater, and the coun- 
try derives its tremendous power from that fact. 

I spoke in several war factories during my short 
stay in St. Louis, and found the working class very 
responsive and patriotic. In one of them, which 
was almost exclusively composed of women, I was 
told that they had .gone on strike the week before 
for higher wages. I was introduced to them by 

Mr. X , who made a charming speech, which 

had the most successful effect. 

"Who has subscribed to the Liberty Loan?" 
asked the speaker. "All those who have done so 
are asked to hold up their hands." 

And every arm was raised with enthusiasm. 

" Who has subscribed to the Red Cross? " was 
the next question. 

At least three-quarters of the hands were waving 
in the air. 

" Now I would like those who have husbands, 
brothers, sweethearts, in the army to raise their 
hands." 

Many arms were lifted, and many eyes filled with 
tears. 

" This is going to be my last question," went on 

Mr. X . " How many of you would w^ant your 

husbands, brothers, sweethearts, to return before 
the war is ended? " 

All the hands were frantically raised. 

" You have certainly not grasped the meaning of 

160 



St, Louis 

my question/' said the speaker, " I will repeat it 
over to you. Now listen well/' 

An intent expression was marked on the women's 
faces. 

" Would you want your husbands, brothers, 
lovers, to come back home without having thor- 
oughly licked the Germans? " 

This time there was not a movement in the au- 
dience, and the speaker had a satisfied look on his 
smiling face. 

The women composing my audience listened with 
interest and sympathy to the sad stories I told them 
about the women and children living in the devas- 
tated areas in France. Many eyes were filled with 
tears as they heard about the sufferings of the poor 
stricken people of my country. 

One evening when we were dining in our sitting- 
room before going to a meeting we heard a band 
playing near our hotel. On looking through the 
window we saw about thirty young women march- 
ing up and down the street, preceded by one of 
their number carrying a long stick with which she 
was beating time. We were much surprised at this 
unexpected sight of highly disciplined girls, all 
looking very serious as they blew into the wind- 
instruments or beat the drums. On account of the 
oppressive heat the majority were wearing white 
blouses, colored skirts, and were bare-headed. 

" What band is that? " I asked the waiter. 

161 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of ^im erica 

" I don't know, Ma'am/' he answered. ^^ Prob- 
ably some more than usually active women wishing 
to get rid of their superfluous energy. I suppose 
they 're having a fine time." 

The following evening a rally, in celebration of 
the 120th anniversary of the nation's military ma- 
chine, was preceded by a parade through the busi- 
ness streets. 

At eight o'clock the procession came to the hotel 
to fetch us. It was composed of members of the 
French Society of St. Louis, members of the ITonie 
Guard, drafted men, marines, Curlee's Drum Corps, 
Kresge's Marinettes, and the Elks' Band. Four 
marines detached themselves from the procession 
and marched two on each side of our motor-car, 
escorting us to Twelfth and Olive Streets, where 
I was intended to speak. 

Two bands were playing in the parade, one mili- 
tary and the other composed of young women clad 
in khaki uniform; these we recognized as the ones 
we had heard rehearsing the previous evening. 

As we passed through the streets we were saluted 
by many people, one person, in particular, attract- 
ing our attention. This was a woman who took off 
her flower-trimmed hat with a most dignified ges- 
ture as we passed by, saluting thus the representa- 
tives of France. 

Then we arrived at Twelfth Street, where a stand 
had been expected from which the speakers were to 

162 



St. Louis 

address the crowd in appealing for marine recruits. 
A pretty young woman sang the French patriotic 
hymn. The band played to gather the crowd, and 
after the speeches were made and the " Marseil- 
laise " sung, to my amusement, Mr. Y , chair- 
man of the chamber of commerce, made the follow- 
ing announcement : 

" The countess will shake hands with the men 
who enlist in the marines!" And I am happy to 
say that I shook hands with thirty-seven volunteers, 
who at once jumped on our stand with the nimble- 
ness of young tigers. 

Then without consulting the person in question, 

Mr. Y followed his first statement with the 

following : 

" The young lady who has sung the ^ Marseil- 
laise ' so beautifully is willing to kiss the next man 
that mounts the platform I " 

But when an extremely dirty man came forward 
as the next, the young singer exclaimed, hiding her- 
self behind my skirts : 

" Oh, never! Not that one! " 

But the man had only wanted to explain that on 
account of having lost two fingers of his right hand 
he could not enlist. And the young singer felt 
very much relieved. 

Having to catch an early train next morning for 
Kansas City, we had packed our trunks and suit- 
cases before retiring. Being tired out, we rejoiced 

163 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

at the prospect of a restful night. But, alas ! two 
hours later we were awakened by a terrific noise 
that made us jump out of bed as though shot. Run- 
ning to the window, we saw from all directions 
fire engines tearing through the streets at a speed 
that seemed to vie with that of aerial craft. Some 
of the engines were motor driven, but the majority 
were horse-drawn. Then against the sky we saw 
lurid flames th^t seemed to come from the left wing 
of our hotel. 

For an instant we thought the house on fire and 
wondered if we had not better dress and be ready 
for any emergenc^^ However, we concluded that 
the hotel management would have warned us in 
case of danger. And then we realized that the 
flames and the dense smoke now^ filling the air were 
coming from a building opposite the left wing of 
the hotel. 

It was most impressive to watch the firemen, 
who worked until seven-thirty in the morning, try- 
ing to master this huge fire. They were wonderful 
as the}^ rushed from one fire-engine to another, 
carrying out orders with a discipline and dexterity 
that we most enthusiastically admired. Our night 
was far from being a restful one. It can easily 
be imagined that eight or ten fire-engines all work- 
ing at a time are not calculated to soothe one's 
nerves, but have the opposite effect of a lullaby. 

On inquiring next morning as to the result of the 

164 



St, Louis 

conflagration, we learned that the house had been 
burned down, but there had been no loss of life, 
two dogs being the only victims of the disaster. 

We spent this day in the train, reaching Kansas 
City in the evening, still very tired and hoping for 
a more restful night than the previous one. We 
decided not to let the authorities know of our ar- 
rival until the next morning, and settled down at 
the hotel. 

At eleven o'clock, just as we were getting into 
bed, the telephone-bell rang in the sitting-room, and 
my sister went to answer. It was a reporter from 
the X paper, who wanted an interview. 

" But I cannot see you now," I heard my sister 
say. 

Nevertheless, the man insisted on getting an in- 
terview by telephone. Then we shut our eyes and 
got to sleep at last. 

Suddenly we were awakened by the well-known 
telephone^bell, and I glanced quickly at the clock. 
I found it was one A. M. My sister, thinking the 
hotel was on fire, rushed to the telephone. It was 
a reporter from a rival paper, who also wanted an 
interview. 

" You cannot refuse giving me some information 
as you have spoken to the other reporter," said this 
man. 

And my sister, although falling from exhaustion, 
gave him in his turn the politest of interviews. 

165 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

Had we not been sent officially by tlie Committee 
on Public Information, we should probably have 
hung up the receiver. But we considered it as 
part of our mission always to give the information 
demanded, even at such an unearthly hour as the 
above. And the next 'morning not a single word 
about our arrival appeared in the papers. All 
this trouble had been given us for nothing. 

In every town we went to I always lield a meet- 
ing at the Red Cross rooms, where hundreds of 
women were making surgical dressings for the hos- 
pitals, and garments for the refugees. 

To my mind, the Red Cross organization was 
another proof of the extraordinary unity that 
reigned throughout the whole country. The amount 
of work accomplished was stupendous from what 
I could judge when, after my lectures, I was taken 
to examine the work accomplished by these devoted 
women. 

Almost invariably I had to go through the rite 
of looking at the famous electric machine that can 
cut through many thicknesses of stuff, and at in- 
numerable jackets and skirts for the women and 
children refugees in France. 

" Oh, yes ! " I always e^eelaimed. " I know all 

about it, and have made it work at Y town, and 

Z city, etc. It is truly wonderful." 

Then bewitching eyes would look at me and 
plead : 

166 



St. Louis 

" But won't you try oursf '^ 

How could I refuse? 

" Very well," and I would grasp the machine and 
cut, cut, cut along with a vengeance, carefully fol- 
lowing the outline of the garments traced with 
chalk. 

It had a real fascination to it. The sort of work 
one would take a wild fancy to for a week, getting 
up every morning at five o'clock and forgetting 
one's meals to do it. I have become an expert after 
touring the United States and having been asked 
in most towns " just to try theirs I " 

America was thoroughly awakened to the war, 
and was carrying it out on the most gigantic scale 
any human mind could conceive. 



167 



CHAPTER XV 

OUR RECEPTION AT CAMP DODGE 

BEFORE leaving for tlie new continent we 
had become acquainted with one of the 
American habits, that a woman has her 
elbow taken by a man whenever she wishes to un- 
dertake such very perilous enterprises as going up 
or down steps, getting in or out of a motor-car, 
crossing a street, walking along a crowded road, etc. 

My sister and I were soon to discover many other 
customs besides that particular one. For instance, 
American men will push your chair up to the table 
for you at dinner. Women have to do that for 
themselves at luncheon, as men are never at home 
for that meal. 

Then the mistress of the house, contrary to what 
is done in France, is served before the guests. I 
have seen this custom in use everywhere in the 
United States except in the Eastern cities, such as 
New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, 
where European modes of living prevail. I sup- 
pose it comes from the ancient idea that by tasting 
and drinking before the guest does the mistress 
of the house proclaims in this way her firm convic- 

168 



Our Reception at Camp Dodge 

tion that the meal will be an inoffensive one. And 
after all it is angelic of her to be the one in the 
family to take all the risks. 

Another habit that struck m,e in America is that 
the host nearly always precedes you in going 
through doors or up-stairs, in order to show you the 
way, which is, to my mind, a cleverer way than 
ours of urging our guests on with encouraging ges- 
tures that generally fail to indicate clearly the di- 
rection they should take. 

One thing that we found delightful in this coun- 
try, and had for us quite a patriarchal flavor was 
the way in which husbands and wives address each 
other as " father " and " mother; " very often, also, 
they call their son and daughter " brother " and 
" sister." I suppose it is because they try to look 
at life from their children's point of view, which is 
not astonishing, if one considers how progressive 
America is ! 

This makes me think of an old lady whom I once 
knew. She was nearly ninety years of age, and still 
lived so much in the future that she invariably 
dated her letters at least three duys in advance. 

We were now at Des Moines, after having left 
Kansas City in a rush, which, in fact, had by that 
time become our way of doing everything. I had 
lectured at a big luncheon given by the chamber 
of commerce, and had hurried away to catch the 
train. 

169 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

The heat for some weeks past had been appalling, 
so the first thing we did on arriving in Des Moines 
was to go to the dining-room and get some iced milk. 

On the table was a pink newspaper spread out 
before us, and my gaze was attracted by the head- 
ing, " Countess arrives," and a photograph. 

" But this does not at all resemble you. What 
have they done? " said my sister, with a puzzled 
look. And on reading it we found that the article 
was not intended for me, but for the Countess of 
X , who was touring the United States on be- 
half of ihe disabled Irish soldiers, and who had 
arrived that day. 

As no one knew we were in the town, our arrival 
being announced only for the following day, we de- 
cided to spend a peaceful night. In order to obtain 
this result we had our telephone blocked with paper, 
so as not to be disturbed as we had been in the 
town we had just left. And now when our tele- 
phone-bell rang it was capable only of a muffled 
sound something like " Brr-brr-brr," which we 
found much less irritating than '' Dring-dring- 
dring." May I offer this as a hint which may be 
helpful for nervous people or for those on the verge 
of a nervous breakdown? 

Having seen in the papers that I was not ex- 
pected to speak before the afternoon, I decided to 
rest all morning, and, in consequence, gave strict 
orders at the desk that we should not be disturbed. 

170 



Our Reception at Camp Dodge 

My sister, whose work generally began when mine 
was ended, or when I had a rare minute for rest- 
ing, was in the sitting-room wading through the 
correspondence when at about ten-thirty a knock at 
the door caused her to turn round, and she found 
herself facing a lady who said: 

" I was told down-stairs that you had given or- 
ders not to receive, so I thought I would take my 
chance.'' 

Then a few minutes later there was another knock 
at the door and a young girl came in : 

" I 'm a reporter and would like to see the Coun- 
tess." 

" She is resting and cannot receive now.'^ 

" I was told so at the desk ; so I thought all the 
same I would try to see her." 

Is this how orders are respected in the country 
of liberty ! However, the young girl was charming, 
and my sister gave her an interview which appeared 
in an afternoon paper. But that brought upon her 
later the following remark from a reporter who had 
tried all morning in vain to reach us : " Why were 
you so exclusive? " 

She explained that she had been taken by sur- 
prise; he simply smiled and wrote a nice article, 
which appeared the next morning in one of the local 
papers. 

We visited Camp Dodge, one of the largest camps 
in the United States, constructed on a site seven 

171 



A Frcnclixi'oinan's Impressions of America 

miles in length to aeeomniodate forty thousand 
men. It was, moreover, to be enlarged for an addi- 
tional twelve thousand men. 

In reality, it is a stupendous wooden city built 
in three months. The Huns would certainly cry 
out, '' Kamcrad;' were they to see how hard at work 
the Americans are, and with what thoroughness 
they decided to carry the war to an end. 

The general commanding the camp received us 
most courteously, and put his car at our disposal 
for visiting Camp Dodge under military escort. 
The heat was intense, there not being a single tree 
to afford shade throughout the entire camp. It 
was so hot that even the brain seemed to melt away 
with the rest of one. An effectual " cure '^ for fat 
ladies I 

We were shown all over the camp and visited the 
hospital, the Hostess House, the Y. M. C. A., 
Knights of Columbus, and Salvation Army build- 
ings, then the dormitories and the refectories, 
where we were offered a most delightful and very 
refreshing beverage, and then we went to the 
bakery. 

It was so hot in there that we wondered whether 
thev had taken us in to show us the first wheat 
bread we had seen in the States, or if it were that 
by comparison we might find the hot rays of the sun 
cool after our visit. 

A wonderful invention is the wireless telephone, 

172 



Our Reception at Camp Dodge 

which was explained to us bj a colonel. He pro- 
posed to give us a demonstration, and sent one of 
his officers out of the building, telling him to give 
us a message when at some distance away. 

Presently we heard a ghostly voice pronouncing 
in a whisper: 

*^ I 'm a German spy. Donnerwetter! I 'm keep- 
ing an eye upon you ! " 

We were then convinced of the efficiency of the 
instrument. 

Before dining with the French officers sent to the 
camp as instructors, we were shown the carrier- 
pigeons. 

In the evening I addressed the boys in their mov- 
ing-picture theater. It was a real pleasure to speak 
to this enthusiastic and most sympathetic crowd of 
splendid young men. 

The next day we were told that our photographs 
had appeared in the papers. So my sister went out 
to try to get a few copies. At the corner of a street 
a man was selling papers, and she asked him for 
several numbers of yesterday's issue. The man,, 
astonished, looked at her, then slapped her on the 
shoulder, exclaiming : 

" Why, I saw your picture yesterday. You ^re 
in it ! You 're in it I D' you want twenty of 'em ? " 
He kept slapping her on the back. Then he called 
a friend of his and said, " This is one of the Coun- 
tesses." 

173 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

" How do you like Des Moines? '' was the in- 
evitable question. Whereupon followed a grand 
conversation about the United States, France, the 
war, and all parted the best of friends. 

That morning, Lady X sent us a note in- 
viting us to luncheon. My sister wrote her an an- 
swer and then telephoned for a bell-boy. When he 
came up I handed him the letter from our sitting- 
room. 

A few minutes later the boy came back to our 
other room, where my sister was, and handed her 
the letter she had written herself. 

" Oh ! no, this is not for me. There is another 
countess in the hotel and you must find her." 

He looked as puzzled as if she had spoken 
Hebrew. 

Now I must say a word about the chewing-gum, 
otherwise United States citizens might suspect us 
of not really having been to their country. 

It may be said that chewing is a very important 
feature of their daily life, and that the people chew, 
chew, and better chew! One never can get away 
from it, and it surprised me very much that the 
Americans, who always want to get ahead of every 
one and everything, who always must, to use the 
modern war phrase, get over the top, should like 
this chewing-gum, which is as everlasting as ever 
were the everlastings of the old-fashioned gardens. 

The whole country is swayed by its rule ; the only 

174 



Our Reception at Camp Dodge 

way to get 'rid of one's gum is by laying it aside. 
And in connection with this necessity surprises 
often awaited us. 

I remember one afternoon, sitting near a table in 
a room in which I had never been before, when my 
eye was attracted by a little ball peeping out from 
under the edge of this table. On looking closer, 
to my great amazement, I discovered that this little 
round thing was the remnant of a piece of chewing- 
gum, which some worthy citizen had not been able 
to vanquish. I suppose that in his defeat, on see- 
ing us enter the room, he had deposited his too- 
faithful friend under the table; for the chewing- 
gum is certainly the truest and most abiding 
companion of any American — it sticks to him 
" closer than a brother," and is ever ready to be 
chewed. 

On arriving in the States I was quite unaccus- 
tomed to the chewing-gum habit. It was in an 
elevator that I was first made acquainted with it. 

There were six of us in the elevator. As we were 
all going to the higher floors, I had plenty of time 
to contemplate the other people. They were men. 
Pityingly I concluded that one was suffering from 
an unlucky affliction of the jaw, so I transferred my 
glance to his neighbor. But he, too, seemed to have 
the same affliction. So I thought I would rest my 
eyes by looking at the next one. Good heavens! 
He was no different from the other two, and when 

175 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

I looked at the fourth I was astounded to find that 
he also was making his mouth move in the same 
rabbit-like manner. But we fortunately reached 
our destined floor just at this moment, and stepping 
out, I involuntarily exclaimed : 

" But surely have all these poor men got jaw 
disease, and are going up to some specialist on a 
higher floor for treatment? " 

One of the most remarkable traits of the Amer- 
ican character is their spontaneous friendliness. 
Often on meeting an American for the first time 
you will find him eager to tell you all about his 
life, what he has already accomplished, what he is 
at present carrying out, and what he is endeavor- 
ing to undertake in the future. For as the Amer- 
ican rarely keeps to the " same job " all his life, 
he often indulges in thinking of the one he will next 
be able to take up. 

And then if you have enough time to listen, he 
will tell 3^ou all about his relatives, so that after an 
half hour's conversation you feel perfectly well ac- 
quainted with his whole family. 

I remember once, when on a train, being ad- 
dressed by a lady who had heard me speak some 
months before, and who kept up, not a conversation 
with me, but a solo, in which she told me in detail 
all about her family. Her son was the leading 
topic of the monologue, and now I know all about 
this charming young man of twenty years of age. 

176 



Our Reception at Camp Dodge 

I have never seen him, but I was told his life in de- 
tail, and even informed of the number of pounds 
he weighed. 

Mystery is an unknown quality in this country, 
the Americans are too out-spoken and frank to wish 
to hide anything from the public. They are at- 
tracted to those who are like themselves, truthful, 
simple, clean-minded, and easily moved by the ex- 
pression of a beautiful thought or action, inspired 
by a high motive. 

The visitor realizes that the nation is striving 
to attain to greater perfection of life, endeavoring 
to resemble the ideal type it has created, and which 
is quite different from the Latin conception of 
saintliness. 

For a European saint must renounce earthly pos- 
sessions; he gives up wealth and either spends his 
life in administering to the needs of others or re- 
tires from active life and spends his time in prayers 
for the salvation of the souls of the rest of human- 
ity, so that they also shall one day receive " la 
grace " that he has had the privilege of finding. 

But the American " saint '^ could not conceive of 
shutting himself up and spending his life in pray- 
ers. He would mingle with his fellow-men, his 
thoughts centered on the realization of physical 
and moral healthiness, and ways of attaining gen- 
eral happiness. His time would be devoted to the 
welfare of his countrymen, endeavoring to raise 

177 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

the mass of the people to a higher level, and trying 
to make them benefit from the same advantages 
that he himself enjoys. 

On leaving Des Moines we spent a few hot days 
in Omaha, and met there some very charming peo- 
ple, whose feelings toward our dear country were 
so sincere and loving that it gave us great happiness 
to be with them. But we had to part only too soon, 
as always happened wherever one meets delightful 
people, and that was our case in every town we 
visited. The Americans were adorably kind and 
charming, and we always felt what great friends 
we would have made if only we had remained longer 
in each place. 

On arriving at the Hotel Fontenelle I wrote a 
letter to my parents; on the envelope was a print 
of the hotel, and above it these words, " Built for 
you to enjoy.'' This again is a distinctive sign of 
the hospitable and kind-hearted attitude of this part 
of the states. 

Although Omaha is not the capital of Nebraska, 
its citizens always smile in speaking of Lincoln, 
their capital, which is, as they say, a small city of 
only fifty thousand inhabitants. It is certainly 
smaller than Omaha, but in July it has one thing 
greater than the other town, and that is its heat. 

We never in our whole lives suffered from com- 
bustion to such a degree, and we are still amazed 
to have come out of the ordeal alive, I really think 

178 



Our Reception at Camp Dodge 

we owe our lives to the great quantity of ice-water 
we swallowed, and the numerous ice creams we ab- 
sorbed, and the cooling motor drives we took be- 
tween the meetings. 

One evening we went out motoring with one of 
General Pershing's charming sisters, and his little 
nephew. In that climate the motor-car is a God- 
send and undoubtedly the nicest ventilator yet in- 
vented. 

Among the people we met was a lady who told 
us that she had been to Europe and had visited 
Paris and Rome. 

"And what did you think of those cities?'' we 
asked eagerly. 

" Nice, very nice, but I was disappointed in their 
size ; they are so small ! " was the unexpected 
answer of the inhabitant of a capital of fifty 
thousand people! 

There are two things we always found in the 
hotels wherever we went, a private bath-room and 
good food. We became acquainted with many 
American dishes, and immensely enjoyed the puffed 
rice, quite unknown in Europe. As to the cream, 
we had not tasted it since the Declaration of War 
in 1914, and we simply thought it a " drink for 
the goddesses." 

What we equally appreciated was the iced coffee 
served in high glasses, and swallowed through a 
straAv. The way in which it is prepared in the 

179 



A Frenchwoman s Impressions of America 

States is not usual in our country, and we always 
enjoyed pouring the boiling coffee on the ice, then 
adding sugar and the wonderful American cream. 
This mixture taken during the meal is certainly 
the most refreshing and cooling drink imaginable. 
The iced tea prepared in that same way was also 
much appreciated by the two sisters, and nowhere 
more than in Lincoln, did they enjoy those refresh- 
ing and non-alcoholic drinks. 

In the dining-room of the Lincoln Hotel were 
written these words : 

"WELCOME THE COMING 
SPEED THE PARTING GUEST " 

A distinctive peculiarity of the Western Towns 
is the width of the streets. They are very broad 
and spacious, and this, of necessity, owing to the 
number of motor-cars circulating in the towns. 
Everybody seems to have one or several <?ars, which 
they undoubtedly all take out at the same time, for 
there is not a spare space left in the streets for 
putting a car up to the pavement. And even there 
they are so numerous, that they are in file, with 
scarcely an inch between them and placed head 
on to the pavement, the rest of the car standing out 
in the middle of the road. 

On each side of them again there are other rows 
of motor-cars, nearly full length out into the road, 
seeming almost like a necessary part of the street. 

180 



Our Reception at Camp Dodge 

Between these lines of cars the traffic must find 
place, and the foot-passengers circulate. It often 
happened that, wanting to stop at any special 
place, we were obliged to go a block or two farther 
on so as to find a place to park. I came to the con- 
clusion that in those towns one has less to walk 
if one goes on foot, for one is then spared many 
of the superfluous steps it is otherwise necessary to 
take to find one's car again. 

And so it is that the car holds an important, if not 
the first place of all, in the lives of the Westerners. 
We were told by them that " the house was a lux- 
ury, but the car a necessity." And truly they 
live in them, sleep in them, and finally go camping 
with their dearly beloved motor-cars. We saw 
whole families packed into them, with rolled-up 
tents tied to the sides, happily traveling along the 
roads until they found the suitable spot where they 
were to put up their tents and spend the night. 

I wonder whether living in a motor-car is more 
progressive than inhabiting a comfortable house! 
In France the home is everything in our lives ; we 
embellish it with loving care ; we love it, and try to 
make it look as pretty and as attractive as possible. 
In fact, our whole life is centered in our houses, 
and once we have settled in a nice one, we never 
think of changing and going into a new one. We 
transform the house we are living in; we have it 
modernized with the new inventions; every year 

181 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

we trj to make it more and more comfortable, but 
we are verj* conservative as to the old walls them- 
selves. They know our thoughts, they have been 
the witnesses of sad and happy hours; we have 
radiated into them part of our vitality. How then 
could we part with such friends? Often the same 
house has been inhabited by several generations. 
You inherit it with beautiful old furniture that has 
belonged to the family for centuries past, and that 
has its story. 

In the West, this could certainly not be, as many 
of the towns there cannot number more than fifty 
years of existence, and I even think it would not 
be congenial to their mentality, which is different 
from ours. 

For them, houses are places in which they oc- 
casionally sleep in winter, when the weather is too 
cold for out-of-door life, and even then the beds 
are generally placed in the open air on a porch. 
These homes do not give one the feeling of being 
inhabited, but rather the impression of a place 
through which one rushes. The people seldom 
stay at home, as they scarcely ever take their meals 
there, going out to the club or restaurant for them. 

The country-club is the great attraction, when 
the weather is fine enough to go there, and every 
city, every town, has at least one country-club, and 
often several for different classes of people. In 
these various clubs, which are more or less wealthy, 

182 



Our Reception at Camp Dodge 

the attractions are the same, tennis, golf, bathing, 
and dancing. For the great tendency of the West 
is that all human beings should enjoy the same pre- 
rogatives, the same enjoyments in whatever class 
they belong. It is truly democracy in the most 
beautiful sense of the word, life as it will be un- 
derstood later by all, but it is a new conception, 
which cannot as yet be grasped by, or applied to, 
every country. 

I remember once reading in an article that " the 
first principle of evolution is the supremacy of in- 
dividuals efficient in their interests, but that the 
first principle in the evolution of the social world 
depends not upon individual supremacy, but upon 
the subordination of individuals, so that collec- 
tive efficiency may be attained." 

It is, in fact, the renunciation of personal benefit 
for the good of the whole. This conception of life 
is far superior to that of the rest of the world, for 
Avhom life is nearly always based on favoritism. 
By this I mean that certain classes alone have 
what the others are longing for. 

But in the West the great beauty of their way of 
looking at life resides in the fact that the upper 
classes wish the others to benefit as much as pos- 
sible, by the same advantages and joys as they 
themselves have. I had never before found that 
attitude; nor had I thought that such principles 
were applied on this planet! And it was very in- 

183 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

te resting for us to have come in contact with people 
looking at life from this new point of view. 

After leaving Lincoln, the country rises steadily 
up to the foot of the Rockies, and the slope is so 
gradual that it is impossible, when in the train, to 
realize that the plains are rising to the height of 
5270 feet. 

It took us fourteen hours to get to Denver. In 
the dining-car we lunched with several notabilities 
of the State through which we were passing. 

"Won't you have a cigarette?" one of them — 
a tall, dark-haired, and strikingly good-looking 
man — asked me. 

" With pleasure," I answered, " as I don't belong 
to any of your frightfully virtuous anti-tobacco 
leagues." 

And the strikingly good-looking man took out a 
cigarette from his gold case; then, putting it be- 
tween his lips he lit it, blew a few puffs, and most 
politely offered me the prepared article. 

" Oh, no, not that end ! " he shrieked in alarm 
when he saw me endeavoring to thrust the lighted 
part into my mouth. However, I think he failed to 
understand why I was trying to be so original in 
my smoking methods. 

But afterward I learned that preparing other 
people's cigarettes in that extremely personal man- 
ner was a well-known and very polite custom in 
that particular part of the country. 

184 



CHAPTER XVI 

NO INDIANS AND NO COWBOYS 

NOTHING can depict our keen disappoint- 
ment on discovering that what we had 
imagined America was going to be, a coun- 
try thickly peopled with Indians and cowboys, was 
almost a pure invention of the famous American 
films that have overrun Europe for several years. 
And perhaps, after all, not truly a pure invention, 
but only the reminiscence of a past age lost in the 
hazy distance of at least fifty years. 

Think what a terrible shock it is to realize sud- 
denly that one is born half a century too late, and 
on that account missing what one had so hoped to 
see ! ^ 

Indians nowadays have become dull, stupid, in- 
dolent, and civilized. They live on reservations 
situated in out-of-the-way places, and have nothing 
of the sharp-witted cleverness that Fenimore 
Cooper attributed to them, but perhaps that ex- 
isted only in his own brilliant brain. 

I had thought, in my ignorance, of going to make 
speeches in the reservations, to awaken the war- 

185 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

like spirit of tlie Indians to such a j^itch that they 
would put on all their feathers and war-paint, and 
execute their most daring and wildest dances. 
And then I could picture my sister and myself es- 
caping from their hands in the car, just as they 
were going to scalp us. That really would have 
been a wonderful adventure somewhat in the 
grand American film style ! But anecdotes, I must 
add, still circulate in the West and made us believe 
that our conclusions were wrong, and that a subtle 
poetry and an exquisite refinement still lingers in 
the vanishing red race. 

We were told the story of a party of American 
tourists in Denver, who, having heard that an In- 
dian tribe was going to celebrate a religious fes- 
tivity in South Colorado, drove there on the ap- 
pointed day, taking a guide with them as inter- 
preter. " When they got to their destination,' ' our 
narrator explained to us, " they found a tall, beau- 
tiful Indian, with all his feathers and war-paint 
on, standing in the center of a large group of In- 
dians, who had gathered there from the neighboring 
mountains. They learned from the guide that the 
tall Indian was a high-priest, and that he was go- 
ing to deliver a speech in his own language. 

" ' The soul of the Indian is fearless,' he began 
in a deep slow voice, ^ no human power has ever 
made it tremble, no divine wrath has caused it to 
quiver; neither the thunder as it shakes the earth 

186 



No Indians and No Cowboys 



and rolls along the clouds into the skies, nor the 
lightning as it lashes the highest fern on the moun- 
tain-top and splits the bark into bits, nor the furi- 
ous torrent when it dashes from boulder to boulder, 
nor the wicked eye of the evil enemy, can ever 
strike dismay into his strong heart; no, nothing 
in heaven nor on earth can ever make the true 
Indian depart from his calm.' 

" ' What 's he saying? What 's he saying? 
Translate it to us I ' whispered the tourists, with 
feverish curiosity. The guide phlegmatically 
threw away his chewing-gum, and pointed to the 
high-priest : 

" ^ Gosh ! that guy there, why he says he ain't 
afraid of anything I ' " 

We were also expecting to see cowboys every- 
where, taming wild horses, throwing the lasso as 
we had seen them do when Buffalo Bill came to 
Paris and gave us in our childhood a false idea of 
American life. 

Another of our hopes was to go to a ranch and 
lead an uncivilized life in a primitive house sur- 
rounded by cattle. We expressed this wish to 
some delightful friends of ours, who immediately 
proposed to take us to lunch out on their ranch. 
Joyful prospect I Were we at last going to find 
" our America" ? It was with a certain amount of 
emotion that we started on this excursion. 

After motoring for many miles we found our- 

187 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

selves facing the most lovely country-house imagin- 
able, with a concrete tennis-court, on which the 
people who lived there did roller-skating. Then 
we entered the house and found ourselves in a most 
attractive hall, with a piano, a phonograph, and the 
most comfortable of furniture. The luncheon was 
very well served, and after the meal we went into 
the garden, where we found a peaceful and very 
tame-looking bear living in a cage. 

" What an exquisite country-place ! '' I ex- 
claimed. 

" Yes," said a visitor. " Is n't this a wonderful 
ranch ? " 

And so this after all was a ranch! Decidedly 
our ideas were getting still more mixed up, and 
we were beginning to find America much too civi- 
lized for European tourists. Then I was no longer 
astonished at the answer I got when, after asking a 
lady of a Western town whether she had ever been 
to Europe, she said, " Oh, no ! I 'm too afraid of 
roughing it ! " 

We had now left the great plains behind us and 
found other scenery, more beautiful and imposing, 
as we approached Denver, situated in the Rocky 
Mountains. 

The aspect of this town differs from that of most 
Middle-Western towns, which all resemble one an- 
other somewhat, the architecture of the houses be- 
ing all on the same model. This to my mind, makes 

188 



No Indians and No Cowboys 



for taste and distinction. The style most used has 
a porch, which is like a balcony on each side of the 
entrance door. Some houses are built in the co- 
lonial style, which is pretty and aristocratic. 

In front of each house there is generally a lawn 
separating it from the neighboring dwellings, but 
which is no protection either from the foot-prints 
of the outsiders or from the indiscreet glances of 
the passerby. 

In France, on the contrary, we would be more in- 
clined to begin building the waM around the prop- 
erty before constructing the house, so as to be 
screened from strangers' eyes, and have the feeling 
of being in our own private surroundings. But 
over here private life becomes public, and I hardly 
see how one could hide anything from the neigh- 
bors, as a great part of the home life is spent on 
the porch. 

These porches are certainly very comfortable, 
with their seductive rocking-chairs, and the indis- 
pensable swinging^chair, from which my sister 
could never tear herself away so highly did she 
appreciate them. They were a novelty for us, as 
we do not have them in France. 

As to the rocking-chairs, it seemed to us that 
the whole country is full of them; and when one 
is not accustomed to them, one cannot enter a 
room without having one or several of their kind, 
invariably thrust their protruding feet into one's 

189 



A Frc?icJnvo?nans Impressions of A tn erica 



owu wliou cue is iuuoceiitly passing bv. This hap- 
pens so much that had I not received rather a 
polished education, I certainly would have spent 
my time swearino- at them, as they were constantly 
in my way ; and I never did get accustomed to meet- 
ing the extreme part of a chair so far away from 
its center! 

We went to a delightful dinner-party in Denver, 
at whivh I answered many eager questions about 
what the boys were doing '' over there/' and, in 
turn, I asked to be told '' Colorado stories/' 

" One of the first proprietors of the Brown Pal- 
ace in which you are residing," a lady informed 
us, " was a man who had been attracted to Col- 
orado bv the i>old mines. After successful Iv work- 
ing for many months, he reaped a big fortune and 
he arrived in Denver one day with a shaggy beard, 
miners clothes, and the general look of a man who 
has lived a long time outside the pale of civiliza- 
tion. 

" ^ Give me a room,' he said to the clerk at the 
hotel desk. 

" * A room ! Why, no, we won't give you one ! ' 
The clerk eyed the new-comer suspiciously. 

^' ^ All right, young man; then you '11 hear from 
me.' 

" And the gold miner went out, found the pro- 
prietor, and that very day bought the Piilace, w^hich 
lie called ^ Brown Palace ' from his owu name; and 

190 



No Indians- and No Cowboys 



HO lie was af)]e to choose the room he preferred to 
sleep in that ni^htl " 

I was seated next to a clever business man, whose 
coriv(M-sation was yo.ry entertaining, and he gave 
me many hints about life as it was fifty years ago 
when Denvcir was only a small village with a few 
shanties. lie also spoke to us about the gold hunt- 
ers of the present and the preceding generations. 

" In the eyes of a gold-seeker, money loses its 
real value," he explained. " It is somewhat like 
bank-notes spread out on a gambling-table; more- 
over the mental attitude of those gold hunters is a 
desire to show off and astonish the public. 

^^ One miner who had found a vast amount of 
gold arrived on foot in one of the C^'olorado towns, 
and, after searching for some time, finally met a 
farmer who promised to drive him to the railway 
station. On the way, the exuberant miner asked 
the farmer for how much he would sell his horse 
and carriage, and without further parley, he bought 
it and thrust the requisite amount of gold into the 
hands of his new acquaintance. 

" Then they drove up to the station, and, getting 
down, the miner exclaimed in loud tones: 

" ^ Bless me I But I can't take the horse and 
carriage I've bought on the train with me. So just 
keep it with the gold, old pal I It 's all the more 
for you ! ' " 

One of the most remarkable things we saw in 

191 



A Frenchwoman'' s Impressions of America 

America was the wonderful organ of tlie Municipal 
Auditorium in Denver. 

Every day at noon free recitals are given and 
the public crowds into the big hall. I saw there 
many children and mothers belonging to the work- 
ing classes, peacefully enjoying the concert given 
by Mr. Clarence Reynolds, the city organist. The 
instrument combines an immense cathedral organ 
with everything in orchestral effects. It embodies 
many instruments such as harps, chimes, xylo- 
phones, glockenspiel, vibrating bells, sleighbells, 
drums, timpani, castanets, tambourines, and a 
Steinway grand piano. 

At the end of the concert we listened to a remark- 
able musical achievement called " Military Fan- 
tasy," also played by Mr. Reynolds. It was a won- 
derful symbolical expression of the various emo- 
tions felt by each American soldier as he starts out 
to Europe to fight as a crusader. 

At first we heard some of the old songs of the 
Civil War, such as " We 're tenting to-night," 
played in soft tones as a reminiscence and a legacy 
of the past. Suddenly came the sound of a bugle- 
call, fifes, and drums — all the sounds of a camp 
astir, preparing for action. Then the rhythmic 
cadence of regiments marching. The troops em- 
bark, and softer modulations come to evoke the 
sadness of parting; at this point distant rumblings 
give us the impression of a storm at sea, approach- 

192 



No Indians and No Cowboys 



ing closer and closer, while the lights in the au- 
ditorium grow dimmer and finally we are plunged 
almost into comj)lete obscurity, which heightens the 
emotional effect. Then peals of thunder resound 
through the building, and there is the sound of 
waves lashing the sides of the ship; shafts of light- 
ning flash across the scenery on the stage. Finally 
the storm disappears behind the horizon; we enter 
a peaceful zone, and the lights in the hall are 
turned on again ; the soldiers are now disembark- 
ing; they enter the trenches, and the fantasy ends 
with the songs of the Allies played majestically as 
an apotheosis. 

It was truly a wonderful performance, and it 
proved to us once again how strongly music reacts 
on the emotions of a collectivity, and I saw that 
in Denver music was becoming a strong factor in 
the education of the people. 

One of the things which most attracted our notice 
while in Colorado was the extraordinary nature of 
the atmosphere. Its subtlety and lightness, due to 
the fact that it is highly charged with electricity, 
makes one think more quickly and think more beau- 
tifully there than elsewhere in America, and it has 
upon the brain somewhat the same reaction as do 
the boulevards of Paris, and Montmartre, where 
dwell the " rapins,'' and again of the " quartier 
Latin " of the artists. 

Certainly it is bound to become the American 

193 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

cradle of geniuses, and I do think that in genera- 
tions to come art will flourish here vigorously and 
give to the world a new type of beauty. 

" Colorado has, I believe, a wonderful future,'^ 
I wrote to my mother ; " here the brain becomes 
very receptive, open to new ideas. After the pio- 
neers will come the day of the soldiers who will 
return to America from Europe as the personifica- 
tion of the idea of glory — glory which is a step in 
advance beyond luxury. This will be a new ideal. 
And then the wealth acquired by the pioneers will 
go to their grandsons, who, thus enabled to lead 
more idle lives, will begin to dream — dream of 
beauty born of the imagination and influenced by 
the loveliness surrounding them in this wonderful 
part of the country. People will give themselves 
more to thinking instead of only to action, and will 
become creators of a new form of beauty. For, 
yes, beauty is still lacking to-day in many parts 
of industrial America ! '' 

That afternoon we arrived at the Broadmoor, 
a newly opened and wonderful hotel in the Italian 
viila style, situated in the mountains three miles 
from Colorado Springs. It is built on the cos- 
mopolitan plan, and the rooms are exquisitely fur- 
nished in the French style. 

We spent the evening on our flower-filled terrace, 
lounging in comfortable chairs, looking out at the 
mountains and the setting sun and at a lovely 

194 



No Indians and No Cowboys 



pink cloud behind which played the summer light- 
ning; the effect thus produced was magical. Then 
gradually the stars began to shine in a dark blue 
sky, and the lights of the town of Colorado Springs 
twinkled in the distance like diamonds. It was 
perfect, yet, no, something was lacking. What was 
it? Ah I had it! It was animation. 

We had the scenery, but not the human play or 
the actors. And I began to conjure up a vision of 
an old-world banquet on this terrace, spread under 
a silken awning, with costly carpets underfoot, and 
rich cushions on sofas and divans; with lovely 
women and handsome men sitting about, and a 
group of musicians, and wine in abundance (Col- 
orado has just become a dry State!) and songs and 
thrilling discussions on life, philosophy, and art, 
and to serve us, negroes in wonderful costumes 
like those of Zamor, Madame du Barry's black 
page. 

To my thinking only so would Colorado have a 
rightful complement to its wondrous setting. " Ah, 
no ! " I hear many good Americans exclaiming. 
" Let it ever remain as it is, God's country, a true 
paradise of Nature's own ! " 

It was late, but I was enjoying our holiday; it 
was a rest to the mind. Emerson says, " Dedica- 
tion to one thought is quickly odious," and it 
seemed to me I had experienced it by thinking too 
much about my work. 

195 



A Frcnclm^oman's Impressions of America 

The Government had planned a week's rest for 
us at Colorado Springs, where I spoke only twice. 
Never did any holiday seem to us so enjoyable as 
that one. It was like being transported suddenly 
into blissful Nirvana, with the certainty of being 
able to get out of it whenever we wanted. 

From the Broadmoor we made several excur- 
sions. One of them was to drive right up in a 
motor-car to Pike's Peak, over fourteen thousand 
feet high. The road is a daring achievement, 
which winds its way quite to the summit. Here we 
found an inn surmounted by a platform, from 
which we got a marvelous panoramic view of the 
Rockies, through the telescope. 

We felt frightfully giddy up there and experi- 
enced a singular feeling of emptiness in the brain, 
as if we had suddenly become anemic in the last 
degree. 

Nothing is more impressive, I believe, than the 
view of the plains seen from the top of Pike's Peak. 
Like a vast ocean they appear to spread to the 
infinite, and the changing clouds cast their moving 
shadows over them, producing the effect of waves, 
of which the crests are formed by masses of white 
rocks. This illusion is one of the most remarkable 
I have ever experienced, and had we not had the 
certitude of being thousands of miles away from 
the sea, we would have believed ourselves driving 
along the coast. 

196 



No Indians and No Cowboys 



Tbe Garden of the Gods is yet another cele- 
brated excursion frequented by tourists, and the 
huge, bright-red rocks affecting fantastic shapes 
seem like the guardian deities of the Indian race. 

" This strange scenery," a friend informed us, 
" is due to the fact that the wind has blown the 
dust from the plains against these rocks for cen- 
turies, producing in this way the effect of a rough 
file, which has slowly moulded the stone into sculp- 
tured masses. Some fifteen or twenty years ago 
this country was still inhabited by Indian tribes, 
and they would gather here amongst these rocks to 
X)erfor'm religious rites ; but all this belongs already 
to past history, and this man coming toward you 
is one of the last vestiges of bygone days.'^ 

We saw advancing a tall Indian. Bis face was 
smeared with heavy stripes of paint; on his head 
he wore the famous headgear of feathers, and 
around his neck I could see long rows of strange 
colored beads. Here indeed was a wild Indian in 
full gala costume, but nothing of the savage ap- 
peared in his deportment. The expression of his 
eyes was dull, and in them was a look of dreariness 
beyond description; the whole attitude of the man 
revealed a moral and j)hysical depression that 
nothing could ever dispel. It was truly like a 
case without hope. All he could do was to sell 
post-cards to the tourists. Yes, there is no doubt- 
ing that the red race will not long survive. 

197 



A Frencliwomans Impressions of America 

We also wont to visit the Cave of the Winds, and 
it reminded me of the Grotte de Han in Belgium. 
One of the singularities of these caves is a room 
foraied by stalactites like all the others, but where 
I discovered innumerable little pieces of wire all 
stuck into the rock. 

"What is this? '' I inquired of one of the many 
charming girls who had accompanied us on this 
excursion. 

She laughed: 

" Those are hair-pins. We have a strange super- 
stition in this part of the world that if you thrust 
one of your hair-pins into this rock, you will be 
married in a year." 

And as if they were accomplishing a sacred rite, 
each girl deposited this feminine emblem on the 
walls. I have often noticed that superstition seems 
to spread mostly in mountainous countries, where 
the people are more in contact with strange phe- 
nomena, and where they have to protect themselves 
against the elements of nature much more than 
do the people of the plains. The Cave of the Winds 
was discovered by two young boys some fifteen 
years ago, and to-day there must be at least several 
hundred thousand hair-pins imbedded in the rock. 
I wonder whether all those hundred thousand girls 
have found husbands ! 

Colorado Springs is mostly inhabited by Easter- 
ners who are attracted there by the wonderful cli- 

198 



No Indians and No Cowboys 



mate, and also by many invalids who settle in this 
part of the country for their health. In the week 
we spent there we had time to make some delight- 
ful friendships. 

We were also taken to visit the Canyon City 
State Penitentiary, where Mr. George Tynam, the 
director, is one of the pioneers of the honor sys- 
tem applied to the convicts. 

The drive from Colorado Springs is one of the 
most beautiful in the world, and from the road, 
which winds endlessly around the highest Colorado 
peaks, we caught glimpses of the distant chain of 
the Rocky mountains, stretching far away into 
New Mexico. Snow-slips often destroy the roads 
in a few hours, and sometimes open up a wide 
chasm into which a motor-car could easily fall and 
disappear, and for this reason one has to be par- 
ticularly careful while motoring, si)ecially at night. 
We saw a road that had been sectioned in this way, 
and we passed over the new one recently built al- 
most beside the damaged one. 

The prison is situated in the center of Canyon 
City, but the convicts who have given their w^ord 
of honor not to escape, live in a camp in tents, 
where they are guarded by a few jailers only. 

" This honor system has worked miracles,'^ the 
under-director explained to me as we were visiting 
the prison. " Naturally we put on our honor lists 
only such men as we believe we can trust, and we 

199 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

register but very few instances where the man has 
escaped. He knows that he will be arrested again, 
and that he will not be allowed to enjoy the com- 
parative freedom of our camps during this second 
period of internment." 

" What is the work accomplished in these camps 
by the convicts? " I inquired. 

" They are generally employed in making and in 
repairing the roads of this part of Colorado, and 
in this Avay they have achieved most beneficial work 
for the community.'' 

" Have you organized a similar work for your 
women convicts? " I asked again. 

" No," he answered, " we do not allow them to 
live out-of-doors under oath, but they work for the 
Red Cross in the prison. Come in, won't you, and 
see them." 

Each woman had a little cell of her own, with a 
window looking out on the prison courtyard, which 
was surrounded by high walls of masonry. In the 
big central hall, a number of women convicts were 
gathered, but only the sound of the knitting-ma- 
chines could be heard in the gloomy prison atmos- 
phere. A feeling of depression gradually crept 
over me. 

" Are some of those women interned for life? " 
I asked the under-director as soon as we had gone 
out of the heavy iron door that gave access into the 
men's courtyard. 

200 



No Indians and No Cowboys 



" Yes, several of them will never again as long 
as they live cross this threshold, guarded, as you 
see, by the jailer in the observation turret above 
the iron door we have just passed through. He 
alone has the right to give admittance from the 
men's courtyard into the section where the women 
are interned. One or two of the women have 
sentences of ten years' imprisonment, whereas the 
majority will only remain here during a much 
shorter period." 

" But why don't you organize the honor system 
amongst the women, and allow them to cultivate 
vegetables and fruit out-of-doors? Nature has a 
better influence over primitive souls than thick 
gray walls." 

" Unfortunately our women convicts here are not 
in sufficient number to make it necessary to or- 
ganize the honor system for them. I will now 
show you the men's dining-hall." 

The hall seemed immense, and I found the con- 
victs eating their supper. The door through which 
we entered was surmounted by an iron cage, in 
which a jailer was on guard, holding a rifle in his 
hands. 

" We have to be careful and take our precautions 
against any eventual mutiny," the under-director 
explained to us. 

When we had ended our interesting prison visit 
I asked our guide whether the convicts were helped 

201 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

when the penitentiary door was closed on them, 
and they had to face a free world again. 

" Yes," he answered, " we never let a man or a 
woman go out of this prison without giving them a 
small sum of money for their immediate expenses, 
and providing them with employment of some kind ; 
moreover, several charitable institutions help us to 
carry out this part of our mission, which is to allow 
every convict a fair chance of redeeming past er- 
rors or crimes." 

This reminded me of the story a clever American 
woman lawyer told me of a convict she had known, 
called by the pretentious nickname of Minerva. 
Minerva was a colored woman who had spent a few 
months in prison because her life was in serious 
need of reform. 

Miss L — , my lawyer friend, applied to one of 
the charitable societies whose special work it is 
to reform the lives of disreputable characters. A 
situation as servant was found for Minerva, who 
entered the household of a doctor. 

After the first week. Miss L — got a letter from 
her protegee: 

'' Dear Miss L — I shure don't think the doctor 
and his wife is married ! " 

Another letter followed the next week: 

^^ Dear Miss L — , there shure is terrible going's 
on in this yer house I " 

Third week: 

202 



No Indians and No Cowboys 



" Dear Miss L — , come and tak me way, I'se 
feared me morals is gettin' corrupted ! " 

I imagine, nevertheless, that this case must be 
a unique one of its kind. 

Although our visit to the State penitentiary was 
a particularly interesting one, yet we were glad 
to get away from the iron doors and the cells, and 
breathe the free air of the wide open spaces 
stretching before us. Never before had I under- 
stood so keenly what freedom means, and I believe 
it would be a very wise thing if every man and 
woman had once or twice in a lifetime to visit a 
prison and realize the full meaning of the word 
liberty and all the happiness and joy pertaining to 
it. 

Amid the many varied experiences we had in 
our tour, was that of speaking in Pueblo in the open 
air, on the square in front of the station, to the 
boys who were leaving for France. They were 
there with their relatives and friends who had come 
to bid them farewell. 

I spoke of the warm reception they would receive 
in my country, and told them to " Go to Berlin ! ^^ 
which they all seemed quite ready to do. Then we 
escorted them to the train that was to take them 
away, and the departure of those boys was one of 
the most heartbreaking scenes we ever witnessed. 
Some women clung desperately to the men, who 
had literally to tear themselves away; others were 

203 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

weeping. One young woman fainted on the plat- 
form just as the train was steaming out. We went 
to her aid and learned that only a few days before 
she had been married to one of the men the train 
was now carrying away on the road to no-man's- 
land. 

Alas ! the sorrow this war has wrought in most 
human hearts ! But as wrote Oscar Wilde in " De 
Profundis," " Where there is sorrow there is holy 
ground.'' 

A'ud in that station far away in the Rocky 
Mountains something sacred had happened that 
day — Oh I very simply, as most great things do 
happen in this world — a few hundred men were 
going from their homes, leaving behind all that 
was dearest to them, everything that their hearts 
loved most, because they wanted to save humanity 
from the greatest danger that had ever threatened 
to destroy it. 



204 



CHAPTER XVII 

A DIP IN SALTAIR WITH MORMONS 

DISTANCES are tremendous in this coun- 
try, and we generally had to travel many 
hours to get fro'm one town to another. 
From Pueblo to Salt Lake City it was a twenty- 
four-hour journey amid the most wonderful and 
gorgeous scenery imaginable, and we would will- 
ingly have traveled many miles more to be certain 
of reaching the famous Mormon city of which we 
had always heard such extraordinary tales! 

To begin with I must say that to all appearances 
the Mormons looked just like all other human be- 
ings. No particular exterior sign distinguished 
them from the rest of the population, although we 
had expected to find them dressed in what we 
thought would be the Mormon fashion. We ex- 
pected to see men with long hair and sandals and 
long white robes, staves in hand; we expected the 
women to be dressed in a similar style, with their 
hair braided and low over their ears. 

Nothing of the sort was there to be found as the 
Mormon men and women were dressed in twentieth 
century fashion. They live in extremely comfort- 

205 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

able houses, just as do the other citizens of Salt 
Lake City, for their town is not solely inhabited 
by those of their own faith, but also by people of 
all other religions. 

Our train arrived three hours late, and immedi- 
ately on arriving we had to attend a reception 
given in our honor. Then some of the ladies on 
the committee of reception suggested that we 
should go to Saltair, the big salt lake renowned all 
over the country for its invigorating power. 

We had literally to rush out of the reception 
room and into the train, by which, in three quart- 
ers of an hour, we reached Saltair, where we dipped 
our tired persons into the lake or, more truthfully, 
sat on it. For the water is so charged with salt 
that it requires a special effort to really sink down 
into it, otherwise one remains floating on its sur- 
face like a cork. 

Now had we both gone there alone without hav- 
ing been prepared for what would happen to us, 
we could have believed that a miracle had taken 
place, and could have thought the blessings of the 
Almighty had come upon us in giving us the power 
of sitting comfortably on the surface of the waters ! 
But when several hundred people are all " doing 
it," you easily understand that you are not specially 
privileged, but that it is simply and only a curiosity 
of nature ! 

An organ rehearsal was given for us in the 

206 



A Dip in Saltair with Mormons 

Tabernacle, which is one of the largest auditoriums 
in the world, seating from six to eight thousand 
people. It is arched over by an immense vaulted 
ceiling of wood, being dove-tailed and so con- 
structed without a single nail, and this self-sup- 
porting wooden roof is considered a remarkable 
work of engineering. 

In questioning some members of our party we 
learned that the reason for this entirely Avooden 
construction lay in the fact that the building was 
erected before the railroads reached that State, and 
so wood, on account of its lightness, was chosen 
as material. Therefore heavy nails were replaced 
by wooden pins. 

The acoustic properties of the building are per- 
fectly astounding and unique. We were told that 
a pin dropped on the ground could be heard at a 
distance of two hundred feet. As the Tabernacle 
was crowded that day we did not try the pin ex- 
perience, but listened to the wonderful organ that 
rises majestically at one end of the building, and 
enjoyed the concert. This great organ is believed 
to be the most perfect one of its kind, and the notes 
resound wonderfully through the huge church. 

We were told that at the religious meetings held 
in the Tabernacle, a member of the congregation, 
man or woman, is frequently called upon to preach 
to the faithful ones, and this generally without 
having been given notice beforehand. 

207 



A Frenchwoman s Impressions of America 

" For, once in the pulpit, they are always in- 
spired/' explained a Mormon lady. 

This sounded so remarkable that we decided the 
next afternoon to attend one of these meetings. 
We did so, and took seats near the entrance door 
at the opposite end from the pulpit. A good-look- 
ing Mormon was called upon to address the as- 
sembly, and in a monotonous voice he spoke about 
the war and the Liberty Loan Drive. It was a dis- 
course just like the ones we heard every day, and 
were beginning to know pretty well — human 
imagination being limited ! But when an inspired 
Mormon speaks like the non-privileged ones of any 
other faith, the only thing to do is to look for the 
door, (which fortunately was quite near) and get 
a little airing in the lovely grounds around the 
Tabernacle. 

" Our Tabernacle was planned and erected under 
the direction of our pioneer leader Brigham Young, 
the divinely chosen successor of the Prophet Jo- 
seph Smith," we were informed by a Mormon. 

^^ Pray tell us about the Prophet Joseph Smith ; 
we are anxious to hear about him," we eagerly re- 
plied. 

" Joseph Smith," said our informer, " was born 
in Windsor County, Vermont, in 1805, and at the 
age of eighteen he had a vision of an angel of God, 
who was to appear to him many times during the 
next four years. Then this angel of the Lord de- 

208 



A Dip in Saltair with Mormons 

livered to him records engraved on plates having 
the appearance of gold, and covered with engrav- 
ings in Egyptian characters, on which the new faith 
was to be founded. These plates when put together 
formed what is known as the * Book of Mormon/ 
so called from their author whose name was 
Mormon, and they give an historical account of 
ancient America." 

" What is your theory on the subject? '^ we asked 
much interested. 

" America was inhabited by two races, of which 
the first one came directly from the Tower of 
Babel at the time of the confusion of languages." 
. " Ah ! Then this at last explains the natural 
American tendency for building sky-scrapers ! " my 
sister exclaimed. "And what about the other 
race? " 

" The second one came from the city of Jerusalem 
about six hundred years before Christ, and de- 
stroyed the first settlers. The Indians are the re- 
mains of this race." 

Unhappily we could not that day stay longer to 
hear more about the foundation of the church of 
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as the " Mormon 
Church " ought in truth to be called. 

But what excited our feminine curiosity most 
was to find out how all the Mormon wives got on 
together, so with a most amiable smile we asked a 
member of this faith the following question: 

209 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

" Do all your wives live together in the same 
house? " For which we were rewarded with a 
most horrified look and the words : 

" I have only one wife, the law forbids us now to 
have more than one." 

I was later drawn aside by a non-Mormon who 
had heard this conversation and who said: 

" They all protest that they have only one wife, 
but we others are sure they still have several/' 

" The other day," another non-Mormon whis- 
pered in our ear, " a teacher received two new 
pupils in one of our schools. 

" ^ Tell me your name and your age? ' he asked 
the first boy. 

" ^ I 'm called Peter Jones, and I 'm seven ! ' 

" ^ And yours?' asked the teacher. 

" ^ I 'm Josephus Jones,' answered the second 
boy, ^ and I 'm seven.' 

" ' Then you 're twins, I suppose? ' inquired the 
teacher. 

" ' Perhaps,' answered one, ' anyhow, we 're twin 
brothers by our father ! ' " 

What was I to think of all this? My mind was 
in a whirl, when a charming old lady entered the 
room, lookiug as if she had just stepped out of an 
old picture. She was sweet and smiling and draped 
in a cashmere shawl and wore a fascinating little 
bonnet. 

^^ This is Aunt Emmeline," my neighbor said. 

210 



A Dip in Saltair with Mormons 

" Come and meet Aunt Emmeline I " said an- 
other lady. 

" How are you to-day, Aunt Emmeline? '' I 
heard a third voice ask. 

" But who is Aunt Emmeline? " we asked with 
astonishment and curiosity. 

And then we learned that Emmeline B. Wells 
was a celebrated Mormon woman, ninety years of 
age, who enjoyed great popularity in Salt Lake 
and was called Aunt Emmeline by all its citizens. 
Her late husband was a pioneer, who had had seven 
wives, and she was the last survivor of this 
happy — as it cannot be called couple, let us call 
it " octuple,'' 

Emmeline Wells had journeyed with the pio- 
neers from the State of Illinois to find the Promised 
Land. After selling all their belongings, they 
traveled some on horse back, others in wagons 
drawn by horses and oxen, until they reached about 
where Omaha stands to-day, and there they es- 
tablished their winter quarters. 

Aunt Emmeline gave birth to a child during this 
long and fatiguing journey — a journey made up 
of hardships and privations, and during which they 
encountered the Pawnee Indians. 

We were told that after the cold weather was 
over, Brigham Young left these winter quarters to 
search for the Promised Land, taking with him one 
hundred and forty-three men, three women and two 

211 



A Frenchwoman'' s Impressions of America 

cliildreu. This statement brought the thought to 
my mind that the problem was just the reverse at 
that time, for instead of seven wives for one man 
each of the three women had from forty-seven to 
forty-eight men — a unique case truly sufficient to 
cause a break in a religion ! But in order to avoid 
such a complication, I imagine that nine hundred 
and ninety-eight additional women soon followed 
to allow^ the one hundred and forty-three men their 
normal number of seven wives each! Finally the 
pioneers reached the valley of the great lake, settled 
there, and divided the land into lots of equal size. 

The temple is a beautiful piece of architecture, 
and rises majestically, its six lofty pinnacles tow- 
ering to the skies, seeming to call to itself the at- 
tention of Heaven. We could not enter this build- 
ing, as visitors are not allowed to cross its thresh- 
old. So our feminine curiositv naturallv induced 
us to ask why the temple doors were closed to the 
public, and we heard that inside that impressive 
building were performed the marriage and bap- 
tismal ceremonies and other sacred rites. 

" Why are outsiders not admitted to all these 
ceremonies?'^ we asked a follower of that faith, 
and he replied as follows : 

" Our Prophet Joseph Smith revealed to his fol- 
lowers that in celestial spheres the marriage rela- 
tion exists eternally, and it is only in our temple 
that this sacred ceremony can be performed in its 

212 



A Dip in Saltair with Mormons 

eternal significance. Those of our people who are 
married outside our temple are married for this 
life only." 

" Ah ! those are the lucky ones/' thought 1 1 
And what a revelation ! In itself alone this 
would suffice to keep away from the Mormon faith 
many already married couples, and make bachelors 
hasten to take the vow of eternal celibacy! How- 
ever divorce is allowed in that church, but is most 
rarely granted. 



213 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE PACIFIC COAST 

BEFORE the war we had often heard of Cali- 
fornia, of its wonderful flowers and lovely 
scenery, and to see it had been one of our 
dearest dreams; so it was with considerable emo- 
tion that we left Salt Lake City for Los Angeles. 
Here we were met at the station by several officials 
and some friends whom we had met in Europe, 
who very kindly came to greet us with some of 
the beautiful Californian flowers. 

Los Angeles is a pretty town, with most attrac- 
tive shops and broad streets. The architecture is 
decidedly different from that of the Middle Western 
towns. The houses are built on different models, 
and there is great variety in their construction. 
The architects seem to have drawn inspiration from 
the various European countries, for some houses 
are of Italian style, others Moorish, and some Eng- 
lish. In fact it may be said that beautiful speci- 
mens of almost every style are to be found here. 

Many of these dwellings have a terrace, which 
gives them an appearance of distinction, and at 
the same time makes a delightful place to live in 

214 



The Pacific Coast 



and sleep out-of-doors in the Californian climate, 
which is even better perhaps than ours in the South 
of France, on the Mediterranean coast. One of the 
loveliest houses we visited was in the Louis XVI 
style and perfectly beautiful. I must say it was 
a great joy for us to find one of our styles of archi- 
tecture reproduced six thousand miles away from 
our dear country, and it gave us for a time the 
impression of being back in France again. 

But what can one say in praise of the Californian 
gardens that has not already been said ! They are 
marvelously lovely, and we saw some very beauti- 
ful ones, although, as we were there in August, the 
best season was over. But we were told that in 
spring there was an almost indescribable profusion 
of flowers, and we could very well picture the houses 
hidden by masses of variegated coloring, giving an 
impression of what Paradise might be like — but 
a Paradise resulting from man's hard work, for 
to our great astonishment we were informed that 
nothing would grow in that soil unless planted and 
then daily watered. 

The climate is so extremely dry in that part of 
the country that not even a wild flower can blossom 
unhelped in the parched ground. On the other 
hand every specimen of plant or flower can flourish 
there in abundance if daily watered and well taken 
care of; even each one of the trees that line the 
streets is watered with the greatest care. 

215 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

Thus it is through sheer love of nature that the 
Californians have been able to turn their State into 
a wondrous garden. Once more it proves that 
man's will, when employed for good, is the greatest 
earthly power in overcoming obstacles. But man's 
power employed for destruction, which is going 
against the laws of nature, is bound to frustrate its 
purpose, and that is one of the reasons that we 
could have perfect faith in the victorious issue of 
the war even during the Germans' drive toward 
Paris, and could feel sure that their destructive 
militarism could not possibly triumph. 

I spoke at various meetings and the last evening 
of our stay in Los Angeles we were taken to Kro- 
tona, situated near Hollywood, where the moving- 
picture stars pose for wonderful films, and where 
both matter-of-fact and sentimental subjects are 
thrown on the screen. 

We were told that the film companies possessed 
large plots of land in Hollywood, where they 
erected houses, palaces, villages, and cities for their 
" movies," and tore them down again when other 
" settings " were needed. 

" Our stars," a Calif or nian lady explained to us, 
" such as Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Rio 
Jim, Mary Pickford, and many others besides, are 
the kings and queens of Los Angeles and lower 
California, and we are very proud of them. When- 
ever they drive through the streets we always make 

216 



The Pacific Coast 



way for them. The other day one of our most cele- 
brated movie actresses was invited by the general 

commanding X camp, near San Diego, to pass 

the review with him, and she appeared on the scene 
dressed up in a wonderful uniform rather similar 
to that of a general, with however, certain feminine 
variations." 

"Are many films made at Hollywood?" I in- 
quired. 

" Yes, and nearly all the American films are pro- 
duced in California on account of the mildness of 
the climate, which makes it possible to take them 
in all seasons. As you have probably heard, it 
is very difficult to pass the test and become a good 
moving-picture actress ; all the girls here are crazy 
to become stars and millionaires in a few years. 
It is true their money is well earned, as it is very 
exhausting and often rather dangerous." 

" What are the special qualifications required in 
order to be a good moving-picture actress? " I 
asked. ^ 

"Above all," answered my amiable informer, 
" you must have a straight nose. I am told that 
a turned-up nose ' h la Roxelane,' or a bumpy one, 
looks horrid on the screen, which enlarges every 
feature. Then if you are blond, the hair must be 
flaxen, for golden hair with much yellow turns 
black in the j^hotographs. Secondly, a beautiful 
physique is required, but here I mean a ' camera 

217 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

attractive ' physique. Sometimes perfect beauties 
become very ugly and no one knows why. The 
camera is the most hopeless and unexpected instru- 
ment to deal with. It has its own particular fan- 
cies, and often without reason turns beauties 
into horrors, and semi-horrors into perfections. 
Thirdly, an actress must know how to act really 
well, how to ride, swim, drive, and cry prettily, 
with eyes wide-open and the tears trembling on the 
tips of the eyelashes, to fall later one by one down 
the smooth cheeks. So you can realize how these 
qualifications narrow down the list of the elect ! " 

'' I suppose you will be interested to hear,'' an- 
other lady joined in, " that in many film companies 
they have a special agent, who has traveled and seen 
much of the world, and whose mission it is to look 
to the exactitude of certain details. If the film 
represents a Chinese drama, this agent would have 
to correct any detail that might not be in absolute 
harmony with the manners and customs of China- 
men. Some weeks ago I saw a film beautifully 
played by Geraldine Farrar, and one of the scenes 
was supposed to be enacted at Monte Carlo, where 
I have spent many winters. I was much amused 
to see that Monte Carlo was represented with 
houses built in the American style and possessing 
any amount of fire escapes, which, however, are 
unknown in that part of the world. Such details 
as this evidently detract much from the likelihood 

218 



The Pacific Coast 



of the drama, and I realized how necessary it is 
for film companies to be guided by a man able 
to correct or prevent such mistakes from being 
made." 

Krotona is the headquarters of the Theosophical 
Society in the United States, and I was asked to 
speak in their open-air theater which is situated 
on a hill with a lovely view. On the way that leads 
to the theater are houses inhabited by theosophists. 
A great impression of peace and harmony came 
over us as we passed through the gateway of this 
place, and the contrast with active Los Angeles 
and its environments was most impressive. One 
might have thought oneself transported to a distant 
country — perhaps to Thibet. 

The Theosophical Society has its headquarters at 
Adyar in India, and it was founded in New York 
by Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott in 187'5. 
It is an unsectarian body of seekers after truth, 
striving to serve humanity on spiritual lines and, 
therefore, endeavoring to check materialism and 
revive religious tendency. Its three declared ob- 
jects are: 

1. To form a nucleus of the Universal Brother- 
hood of Humanity, without distinction of race, 
creed, sex, caste, or color. 

2. To encourage the study of comparative re- 
ligion, philosophy, and science. 

219 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

3. To investigate the unexplained laws of nature 
and the powers latent in man. 

Mrs. Besant, who is the actual president of the 
society, in one of her lectures, " A Sketch of Theos- 
ophy,'- says that two of the ideas to be grasped are : 
" first, the idea that man as a spiritual being can 
know God and develop the divine within himself; 
and secondly, that in each of the religions of the 
world there is a body of truths common to all the 
religions and those truths are called Theosophy.'' 

My sister was beginning to be anxious about my 
health, as the heat and the numerous speeches I 
delivered daily were thoroughly exhausting my 
strength. The people were so eager to hear the 
message I was bringing from France that I had not 
the heart to refuse to speak often, although I was 
now on the verge of a breakdown. Faced by this 

situation, we spoke to Mr. X the chief of the 

Four Minute Men of Los Angeles, and decided that, 
instead of going by train to San Diego, we would 
go with him and his wife by motor-car — the fresh 
air and the lovely drive being certainly more rest- 
ful. We were rejoicing at the prospect of this 
charming day spent amid wonderful scenery, — and 
then when we returned from Krotona at eleven 
o'clock in the evening the telephone-bell rang, and 
my sister heard a sharp and most decided, although 
feminine, voice ask: 

" Is this the Countess de Bryas? " 

220 



The Pacific Coast 



" I am her sister/' was the reply. 

" And I am Captain Z and want to speak 

to her." 

As usual my sister explained that I could not go 
to the telephone and asked if the message could be 
given to her. This is what followed: 

" I am told that you are not arriving by the nine 
o'clock train to-morrow morning, but you must be 
in San Diego for the Women's Motor Corps Parade 
that we have organized for your arrival at the sta- 
tion ! " 

" I am very sorry," my sister said, " but we will 
only arrive in time for the lecture, which is to be 
given at eight o'clock at the Isis Theatre ! '^ 

Then the voice, becoming more authoritative than 
ever, continued : 

a The governor is coming purposely for this occa- 
sion and Admiral Y , commanding the Pacific 

Coast, will be there to receive you. If you don't 
instantly promise to come by the nine o'clock train, 
I will come myself to see that you get into it, for 
the countess we must have dead or alive ! " 

Before such a threat, both being in an uncom- 
bative state of health, we decided not to resist, but 
to rise in the early morning. Then we hurriedly 
did our packing before retiring. 

At seven o'clock the next morning my sister was 

called to the telephone by Mr. X , who had been 

awakened at five o'clock — poor man ! — by this 

221 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

same female Captain Z , who had driven all the 

way from Coronado Beach to Los Angeles, or, to be 
more precise, who had made her lieutenant, a young 
and pretty girl, drive all night in order to make 
sure of the capture of the French countess and her 
sister. She would not leave the telephone until 

Mr. X had made the solemn promise to see 

us off by the nine o'clock train. Then she left 
Los Angeles, still driven by her lieutenant, whom 
she nearly killed by exhaustion, so as to be back 

in time for the famous parade. Mr. X and 

his charming wife offered to accompany us to San 
Diego, and that thought cheered us up. 

On leaving the telephone my sister saw peeping 
from under the door a piece of paper, which she 
picked up to find that it was no other than a torn 
hotel laundry paper, on the reverse of which were 
hastily written in pencil these words : 

" Dear Countess, 

" I will promise you anything for France and Belgium if 
only you take the 9 o'clock train. 

" Captain Z ." 

These words were certainly sufficient to make us 
go even to the ends of the world without even con- 
sidering whether our strength would hold out until 
the result were attained. Then upheld by the 
thought of the good luck that was awaiting us, we 
took the train and found that it would start late, 
as it was waiting for another train on which the 

222 



The Pacific Coast 



Governor of California was traveling. The gov- 
ernor arrived and took his place in our Pullman 
where, once comfortably seated, he took a short 

nap, and so did we. After this rest Mr. X , 

who had come with us, introduced to us the gover- 
nor, whom we found perfectly charming, and we 
enjoyed our chat with him. He told us that he 
was making his campaign for the elections that 
were to take place two days later, and that he had 
been called for by the Women's Motor Corps Di- 
vision of San Diego and was arriving without know- 
ing the purpose of his journey. Mr. X then 

explained that it was on our account that all these 
preparations were made, and a good-looking colonel 
of the regiment stationed near Coronado Beach 
said to us with a delightful smile : 

" You will receive a royal reception ! " 
We felt most grateful for all that was done for 
the representatives of France, and for the spirit 
of love and admiration in which it was accom- 
plished. It was certainly wonderful to feel that 
neither the ocean nor the continent itself, equal 
in size to that ocean separating France from Cali- 
fornia, could stop the hearts of the people of two 
distant nations from going out one to another in 
fraternal love. 

We finally reached San Diego and were received 
at the station by the Women's Motor Corps Di- 
vision, all making the military salute in a solemn 

223 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

and dignified attitude. As we descended to the 
platform a military band played the " Marseil- 
laise." We could see the astonished faces of the 
other travelers as they peeped out from the train 
windows, wondering for whom the masculine and 
feminine army of the Southern Pacific Coast had 
been mobilized. 

At the station door we found three motor-cars 
waiting for us, in which we were to take place for 
the parade. In the first one were seated the gov- 
ernor and the colonel ; then came our car, and after 
the third one were two huge military lorries with, 
the military band still playing. In order that the 
music should keep in tune and that the unexpected 
jolts of the road should not make discordant notes 
we advanced at a tortoise-like pace, which gave 
the impression that we were following a hearse. 

To reach Coronado Beach from San Diego you 
have to cross the bay, and we found that the ad- 
miral commanding the Pacific Coast had most 
amiably put his own lovely white craft at our dis- 
posal. So in this way we crossed over with our 
party and several members of the Motor Corps, 
among whom were the admiral's two pretty and 
attractive daughters. 

On arriving at the Hotel del Coronado we were 
greeted by the admiral and his wife, and then taken 
to our rooms, where we were allowed to lunch alone 
and rest before the afternoon reception. Our 

224 



The Pacific Coast 



rooms looked out on a big verandah, where we de- 
cided to take our meal, as the view was lovely. 
My sister stepped out' to admire it, and when I 
joined her I found her in tears and, pointing to 
the scene to the right, she said : 

"This looks just like Pointe Sainte Barbe!" — 
a place at Saint-Jean-de-Luz that we are very fond 
of and where we have spent many happy winter 
months. This sight was too much for my over- 
wrought nerves, and I burst into tears, thinking 
of my country and of the unclouded days before 
the war. 

In fact we were now so exhausted that our nerves 
were giving out, and simply to think of home and of 
our dear friends over there was sufficient to make 
the tears rise to our eyes. Even the sight of happy 
and healthy children broke our hearts when we 
thought of the sad and aged faces of the little ones 
of our destroyed regions, who had suffered from 
hunger and gone through such hardships that, jjoor 
mites, they had forgotten how to smile and how 
to play. In itself that thought was sufficient to 
make us feel that we must keep on despite our 
exhaustion at the time, in order to let the American 
nation know of the sufferings of our young genera- 
tion. 

Madame Tingley had kindly put her theater, 
called " Isis Theatre,'' the most beautiful and the 
largest in San Diego, at my disposal that night, 

225 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

and when the meeting was over she invited us to 
visit her school the next morning. 

Never have I seen a more glorious setting for 
a school than the plot of land selected at Point 
Loma by Mrs. Tingley, who is the president of the 
" Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical So- 
ciety." It is situated on a peninsula eight miles 
long and from one to three miles wide. We were 
received in the Aryan Memorial Temple, a gorgeous 
building of a radiant pink hue, by two darling 
little tots of three and four years old, who came 
forward to greet us with bunches of flowers. Then 
we entered the temple and listened to a symposium 
enacted by the "youngest teachers in the world," 
clad in white garments and wearing wreaths of 
flowers on their head. It was most amusing to 
watch those twenty or thirty little philosophers, 
whose ages ranged from three to perhaps sixteen, 
gravely arguing about the immortality of the soul 
and the necessity of mastering the mind and grad- 
ually controlling the inferior nature through the 
power of the will. 

The school is a colony of about five hundred mem- 
bers, who have gathered there from all parts of 
the world, and where art, science, languages, philos- 
ophy, law, and horticulture are taught. The archi- 
tecture of the various buildings is extremely origi- 
nal and due to the talent of Mme. Tingley, who 
built them fifteen years ago in what was then a 

226 



The Pacific Coast 



desert where only sage-brush grew. The principal 
buildings are surmounted by huge domes of green 
and pink glass, and clustering around these tem- 
ples are voluminous masses of palm-trees giving 
to the whole surrounding an appearance of gor- 
geousness, wealth, and material prosperity. 

One of the most beautiful sights in California 
is the Greek Temple of Point Loma, built of white 
marble, where the Raja Yoga students play dramas. 
I imagine nothing can be more picturesque than 
to watch the actors seated on the steps or erect 
against the Doric pillars, through which, a little 
farther away beyond the cliffs, gleams the radiant 
blue Pacific. 

The Californian climate seems to develop in the 
souls of its people a strong tendency toward spirit- 
uality and the search for divine wisdom. Numer- 
ous are the followers of all these various spiritual 
movements, about which we were given many 
pamphlets by zealous persons who hoped to convert 
us into active members of their own particular 
philosophical sect. 

Here my thoughts reverted to Voltaire's witty, 
though perhaps exaggerated, words, " When two 
people talk together without understanding each 
other, then they are speaking philosophy, but when 
the one who is speaking does not understand what 
he himself is saying, then is he talking metaphys- 
ics." 



227 



CHAPTER XIX 

SAN FRANCISCO 

THE servant problem over here is another 
difficult question to deal with, and it has 
become nearly impossible to find servants, 
and this to such an extent that we were asked in 
the majority of cities and towns through which 
we passed whether we could not send to the States 
some of our French and Belgian refugees as do- 
mestic help. 

In the West the difficulties seemed even greater 
than in the East, and it very seriously complicated 
the home life. For instance, the cook is one of the 
nightmares of a household, as she generally lives 
" down town " in a room of her own, coming to 
the house only to prepare the meals. She has her 
private telephone in her room, and her employer 
is at the mercy of her call, as the following example 
will prove. 

We were staying with some charming friends, 
at whose home we had arrived on the previous day. 
In the afternoon we were informed that their cook 
had telephoned that as she had prepared three con- 
secutive meals she wanted a rest, and would not 

228 



San Francisco 



come that evening to cook the dinner. So the only 
thing we could do was to go to a club, as no human 
power could make that cook budge. 

On another occasion we were staying in the house 
of friends in quite another part of the States. We 
drove there late in the evening, and the next morn- 
ing a well-intentioned and very young-looking maid 
thrust her head through the doorway and in a sten- 
torian voice, which caused me to jump almost out 
of my chair, shouted : 

" I say, you girls, if you need to have anything 
fixed up, just tell me, and I '11 do it right away! '^ 
In fact, we wonder whether the only way for the 
Americans to solve their servant question would 
not be in having, as has been proposed in England, 
a corporation of " domestic helpers '' composed of 
men and women perfectly trained in special schools, 
who would go from house to house for a couple of 
hours, doing the service required. They would 
wear a distinctive uniform, which seems^o have 
a certain attraction for Americans. 

In the hotels we were told that the servants 
rarely remained more than an average of five years, 
as at the end of that time they generally chose 
another profession that they deemed less servile 
and more independent. For one of the strongest 
American characteristics is the longing to be one's 
own master, sufficiently free to exercise one's own 
initiative. 

229 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

We left for San Francisco, for " Frisco," as it 
is called by other States to the disgust of its in- 
habitants, and were received by most charming 
people at the station, and also by reporters and 
photographers. In getting into the motor-car we 
were informed that we were not to stay at the San 
Francis Hotel, where we had engaged rooms, but 
instead at the Palace Hotel. 

" For all the hotels must have a chance,'^ ex- 
plained Mrs. X , who had come to greet us. 

" Your General Pan was staying last week at the 
San Francis on his way to Australia; that is why 
we have put you up at another hotel.'' 

The next morning my sister was called over the 
telephone by six or eight different photographers 
who were wanting us to sit at their studio ; and also 
several reporters rung up to get appointments for 
interviews. We seemed to be duplicating our New 
York mornings. 

In no part of the States more than here did we 
hear so much of woman's suffrage. It is a question 
that seems to them of vital importance, and the 
women are indeed asserting themselves here fully, 
and playing an active part in public affairs. 

American women have helped suppress alcohol 
and they will probably vote for the suppression of 
what many may look upon as the joys of life, to- 
bacco, for instance, and even coffee. As they belong 

230 



San Francisco 



to the weaker sex we may be prepared to find many 
an exaggeration in what they will decide as being 
prejudicial to the race. Their excuse is that they 
are thinking of the welfare of the future genera- 
tions, and as an author remarked, " Through the 
very necessities of her being the woman subjugates 
the interests of the present to the welfare of lives 
unborn." 

I was very much interested in San Francisco and 
along the Pacific Coast in studying the difference 
of mentality in the Easterner and the Westerner. 

" In the West/' a lady explained to us, " we are 
tempted to believe that old families are like pota- 
toes', the best part of them underground." 

" Do you mean by that," I asked, " that you judge 
every man entirely on his own merits? " ' 

" Yes," she answered, " the self-made man is the 
type we admire most. As you already know, it is 
generally those of the strongest character in their 
class that emigrate from Europe to America each 
year. Those people are nearly always superior to 
their kind in daring, audacity, self-confidence, and 
initiative. In the same way the strongest and the 
more adventurous characters in the East are pre- 
cisely those that emigrate and settle in the West of 
the United States. The quality that we Americans 
appreciate most in a person is strength of character, 
whereas in France, I suppose, your admiration goes 

231 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

more willingly to the man who is cultured and re- 
fined, and belongs to the intellectual elite of your 
country." 

Despite this assertion, however, I discovered that 
in the West as well as in the East, quite a number 
of families were not far from thinking that their 
" underground ancestors " were worth acknowledg- 
ing when they happened to be old grandees of the 
past. 

" Many descendants of the kings of France and 
England have emigrated to America," a delightful 
aud witty old lady I met in California explained to 
me. " Here many people claim descent from Wil- 
liam the Conqueror, Pepin le Bref, Hugues Capet, 
a James of Scotland, or a Henry of England. 
Whereas," continued she, " of course, I know that 
in Europe such distinction generally conies only 
from morganatic marriages or from an illegitimate 
branch of a royal family. I am naturally not in- 
cluding in this classification reigning families and 
their branches." 

" May I ask you whether you happen yourself to 
be a descendant of one of such kings? " I inquired, 
much interested. 

" Yes," she answered, " and I will explain to you 
my descent from William. I call him just ' Wil- 
liam ^ in an intimate way, as he belongs to my 
family." She added, with the wickedest look of 
fun in her bright eyes : ' " People are too funny, 

232 



San Francisco 



and you have, I dare say, come across any number 
of royal descendants in America! As soon as a 
man of the progressive style makes a fortune and 
gets into the swim, he at once acquires ancestors; 
all he has to do is to knock at the door of one of 
the several societies specially equipped with a rare 
assortment of old celebrities for him to choose from. 
But he generally makes the mistake of selecting the 
most prominent old king he can lay hands upon. 
Now I want to be perfectly fair; there do exist 
some old colonial families here in California, but 
specially in the East and the South, descended from 
very good old stock, and naturally it is not of these 
that I am speaking. I do not pretend at all my- 
self, to be descended from old William, and if it 
amuses you to look at it, here is my family tree 
worked out for my special benefit by one of the 
above-mentioned societies.'^ 

And I read something to this effect : 

" William the Conqueror. 
Edwige of Brabant. 
Count of Normandy. 
Brunhild. 

Baron of Hastings. 
Chevalier d'Artagues. 
Lucy Mincepie. 
Jacob Soshort. 
Theresa Windpipe. 

233 



A FrencliwomaJi s Impresmons of America 

Martin Windpipe. 
Hannibal Windpipe.'^ 

And finally the name of my hostess's father. 

San Francisco is a most beautiful city, with a 
unique situation on the Pacific Ocean and the San 
Francisco Bay separated by the famous Golden 
Gate. It is certainly impossible to imagine that 
only twelve years ago the town was nearly com- 
pletely destroyed by what it is considered tactful 
to call the " great fire," and the prosperity of the 
city to-day is such that foreigners cannot help being 
filled with the most sincere admiration for the 
dauntless energy of its citizens, who fearlessly re- 
built it within a few years. 

One of the greatest curiosities of San Francisco 
is the Chinese Quarter, with its 10,000 inhabitants, 
and we were escorted there one night by a charming 
member of our reception committee, a clever woman 
lawyer, and four detectives in civilian clothes. 

We entered a mysterious-looking house, and 
waded along narrow and ill-smelling corridors. As 
we passed along, Chinese heads cautiously peeped 
out from each door, like culprits who are afraid 
of being caught in committing illicit acts. Finally 
we stopped, and a detective knocked loudly at one 
of the doors. An old Chinaman opened it, and 
Stared at us with a frightened look. We all man- 
aged to squeeze into the tiny room, and the old 

234 



San Francisco 



man retired to his couch of Chinese matting, from 
which he had risen at our knocking. 

"We want to see you smoke," said one of the 
detectives. 

" No got opium," answered the Chinaman, in 
broken English. 

Then the other detectives began hunting around 
the room, searching in vain for the prohibited drug. 

" This old man," the woman lawyer explained 
to us, " was arrested lately, and appeared in court 
charged with opium-smoking, but I pleaded his 
cause, and obtained from the authorities permis- 
sion for him to be allowed to use the drug on ac- 
count of his great age and the fact that if he ab- 
stained from this life-long habit, he would certainly 
die. You see that in spite of the severity of our 
laws we are very humane in their application." 

" We will come back in an hour," said the head 
detective to the Chinaman, " and by that time you 
must find opium, as we have promised these French 
ladies they shall see you smoke. We guarantee 
that no harm will be done to you." 

We were glad to get away from the awful atmos- 
phere of that room and its weird Asiatic smell. 

As we walked along the corridors we stopped 
before another door, on which the words " Hip 
Sing Tong " were written. We entered, and found 
a lovely room filled with Chinese works of art. 

" This is the headquarters of one of the innumer- 

235 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

able secret societies of Chinatown," we were in- 
formed by a detective in our party. " Secret so- 
cieties are often dens, in which murders are planned 
and crimes cleverly elaborated. Despite a care- 
ful scrutiny exercised by the police, assassinations 
are frequent in Chinatown, where a complicated 
system of vengeance is carried on by families who 
have to avenge their honor when one of their own 
has been murdered by killing the criminal or a 
member of his family." 

After that we visited a joss house or a sanctuary, 
where incense rises like a perpetual adoration in 
front of curious divinities carved in wood. Then 
we were shown a gambling-den that the police had 
discovered only the previous week, and that re- 
minded me of the '' Mysteries of New York," a 
famous film that obtained great success in France 
during the Avar. 

" This den," one of our guides explained, " is 
composed of several rooms, which I will show you, 
and which have neither windows nor visible doors. 
Tliese rooms are situated in the rear of a Chinese 
bar or small restaurant, of which the tenants have 
now been arrested, and for a long time we did not 
suspect that a gambling-house was hidden away 
behind this innocent-looking shop." 

Indeed, we found that the only means of access 
to this suite of rooms was through a series of doors 
so cleverly concealed in the wooden walls that not 

236 



San Francisco 



the slightest aperture was visible when they were 
closed. They could only be opened by a string 
pulled from the outside of the first room. As we 
came out into the street again we saw a group of 
Chinamen watching the detectives with anxious 
looks. Evidently their consciences were not alto- 
gether free from some secret alarm. 

We returned to the house that we had first vis- 
ited, and found our old Chinaman still reclining 
on his couch. After much coaxing he ended by 
producing his opium, a small heap of brownish stuff 
spread out on a doubled-up playing-card. 

" They always use playing-cards to carry their 
opium about in/^ the lawyer told us, " because one 
side is slippery, and they can get it off easily with 
their needle without having bits of paper sticking 
to it." 

The old man had taken out his needle, and with 
amazing dexterity of fingers he heated the little 
ball and thrust it into his long pipe. Then he lay 
down flat on his back and blew a few puffs. After 
a few moments he began again, and the atmosphere 
of the room was soon saturated with a heavy, sick- 
ening smell. 

*' Will he doze off into blissful dreams? '' I in- 
quired. 

" Oh, no,'' answered the lawyer. " This man is 
so intoxicated that no amount of opium could ever 
produce that effect on him. That is precisely the 

237 



A Frenchwoman^ s Impressions of America 

danger of the dfug. All those who smoke it regu- 
larly get accustomed to it or rather immune from 
its poisonous influence, and in order to obtain a 
reaction on their nervous system, they are prog- 
ressively led into augmenting the dose, with the re- 
sult that they soon lose all healthy and natural 
energy and become useless and unreliable members 
of society." 

As we emerged into the street a curious noise at- 
tracted our attention, somewhat like the mixture 
of a small jazz-band playing false notes, a company 
of cats caterwauling, and a shrill feminine voice 
singing chromatic scales out of tune. It was a 
Chinese concert being performed in an adjoining 
building. We hurriedly mounted the stairs and 
found ourselves in a room facing five men and one 
woman, the chromatic-scale soloist, striving to mas- 
ter gruesome instruments on which they were play- 
ing with desperate energy. No public was there 
to listen or encourage them, and they were evi- 
dently disporting themselves for their own pleasure 
— and what a pleasure ! They turned around as 
we entered and shot fierce glances at us, but when 
they recognized our four detectives, they quickly 
exchanged looks and resumed their musical efforts. 

I remember reading somewhere that when the 
tower of Babel was abandoned God left one stone 
standing to represent music, the universal language 
that all men would in the future understand. This 

238 



San Francisco 



legend sounds very poetic, but in listening to Chi- 
nese music I realized that it is open to criticism. 
For, indeed, this strange music represented nothing 
to our minds ; it did not appeal to our emotions in 
the slightest degree ; it seemed to our unaccustomed 
ears simply noise. Hindu music, the chant of the 
muezzin in the mosques of Egypt and Constan- 
tinople, the nasal and monotonous singing of the 
dervish in Asia Minor, have never done other than 
arouse my curiosity; they have failed to open up 
new vistas to my imagination. 

This brought to my recollection the story of the 
Persian shah who on an official visit to Paris a 
number of years ago was taken to the opera to hear 
Gounod's " Faust." His Majesty sat very quietly 
through the first act, and when asked how he had 
appreciated French music declared that he had en- 
joyed one part of it intensely and that he wanted 
to hear it again. So the singers repeated the waltz 
and chorus of the finale. " No, no,'' said the shah ; 
" it was before that." The singers went through 
the duo. " No, no ; it was before that too.'^ Fi- 
nally it was discovered that what had appealed so 
strongly to his Majesty's musical taste was the 
tuning of the instruments. 

We ended the evening in a chop suey, or Chinese 
restaurant, very similar to those of New York, 
where we ate a horrible mash of every description 
of wild and domestic animal cut up into tiny slices, 

239 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

and long thin herbs looking like green worms. All 
this was served in bowls, and we tried to pick up 
the food with two sticks, which one is supposed 
to use with the right hand only. This was the 
most amusing part of the meal, as we were all 
frightfully clumsy at this novel performance. Sit- 
ting next to our table was a Chinaman, and we 
were speechless at his dexterity. He leaned over 
the bowl and literally threw the food into his mouth 
without ever stopping, the little sticks meanwhile 
beating a rapid cadence up and down. It was 
ghastly to look at. 

Almost every day all through my tour I spoke 
at luncheon and often at dinner-parties in the in- 
numerable clubs that flourish in American cities. 
I will now confess that there is nothing I love so 
truly in this world as speaking in public. This 
has certainly given me much of the greatest joy 
I have ever experienced, but yet I must admit that 
I never got reconciled to the fact of having to make 
speeches immediately after a meal. I almost en- 
tirely gave up eating at luncheon; those who in- 
troduced me to the public invariably got nervous 
about beginning as rapidly as possible in order to 
allow me more time in which to expose my ideas, 
and generally I had barely nibbled at a few dishes 
when they would ask me to get up and talk. 

" Would you mind explaining to me,^' I inquired 
of one of my amiable neighbors at the Common- 

240 



San Francisco 



wealth Club in San Francisco, " how it is that men 
never lunch with their wives in America? " 

^' Our work makes it impossible for us to go home 
in the middle of the day ! " he answered, with an 
astonished smile at the naivete of my question. 

" Yes, American men say so, but my own experi- 
ence in this country leads me to the conclusion 
that many women don't lunch at home, either. 
Every day at noon I lunch myself at a club, and 
the public that I address afterward is composed 
either exclusively of women or exclusively of men. 
I presume, therefore, that it is more a matter of 
custom and choice rather than an actual impossi- 
bility. Otherwise a greater number of mixed clubs 
would be organized in your cities, where husbands 
and wives might often lunch together.'^ 

" Your remark is perfectly true," my neighbor 
answered, " but I can refute it with two statements. 
Firstly, business men are often so absorbed in their 
work that they cannot afford more than fifteen 
minutes for their lunch. Secondly, business trans- 
actions are constantly carried on in these various 
clubs, and they afford business men the opportunity 
of meeting and talking in a more intimate way to 
other people who may be useful to them in their 
own affairs." 

" Will you allow me to express a personal opinion 
that may differ somewhat from yours? " I asked. 
" Each time that I have been asked to speak at a 

241 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

business-men's luncheon, I have always been invited 
for noon and have never been free before two o'clock 
and generally two-thirty. You will in all proba- 
bility answer that this fact constitutes somewhat 
of an exception, although since the war such 
speeches have frequently been made at clubs sev- 
eral times a week, and they seemingly have a tend- 
ency to be on the increase. I do not doubt, how- 
ever, that your reasoning is based on more solid 
ground than mine, and that these luncheons arise 
from the fact that in the beginning, when the men 
of the country created in the desert those marvelous 
oases that are your cities, they left their homes 
in the morning, returning only at night after hav- 
ing spent the entire day working hard at organizing 
a civilized condition of life; their social instinct, 
however, making them desire to gather together in 
each other's company during the midday meal. Do 
you not think that this is probably the origin of 
your ^business-men's luncheons'? By degrees, as 
the conditions of life became more firmly estab- 
lished, the women also sallied forth from their 
homes and came into town in the daytime, and they 
in their turn found their social instinct led them 
to organize ' women's clubs.' This is probably the 
origin of the feminine movement in your country. 
When they gathered, they soon realized the force 
of their numbers and their power. Allow me also 
to add," I concluded, " that I have met a far greater 

242 



San Francisco 



number of happy married couples in America than, 
elsewhere in this world, and probably this inde- 
pendent manner of living their lives contributes 
much toward making American husbands and wives 
meet with renewed pleasure when their work is 
over, and then they can talk over the various in- 
teresting episodes of their everyday lives.'' 

The largest audience I addressed in America was 
at Berkeley, on the opposite bank of San Francisco 
Bay, in the wonderful Hearst Greek Theatre, which 
can seat 10,000 people. This theatre is an open- 
air one, and the accoustic properties are such that 
it is not necessary to make any superhuman effort 
to be heard by the entire audience, as I often had 
to do when I talked out-of-doors in factories, with 
machines and engines puffing loudly at my side. 

Nothing, indeed, seemed more curious to me than 
to watch the public right back in the last rows 
laughing heartily when I ventured a few jokes, and 
jokes have necessarily to be said almost in an un- 
dertone, and not as the teller of the comic story who 
"does not slur the nub,'' as Mark Twain indig- 
nantly explains in "How to tell a Story," "but 
shouts it at you — every time. All of which is 
very depressing, and makes one want to renounce 
joking and lead a better life. 

This meeting, like nearly all those we attended, 
opened with a musical program that never varied 
much, and as one of my fellow-countiymen who was 

243 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

sent on a French official war-mission to America 
remarked to me one day: 

" After ten months in the United States, and any 
amount of official banquets, I have ended by asso- 
ciating in my mind the ^ Marseillaise ' with the 
entree, * God Save the King ' with the roast, and 
the ' Star-Spangled Banner ' with the asparagus." 

When the address was finished a great part of 
the audience advanced, and we shook hands with 
them, as we did each day with several thousands 
of people who greeted us in all the generosity of 
their great enthusiasm, expressing in this way their 
sympathy and love for our country. 

I remember in Berkeley one young woman and 
her two darling little children, who stood watching 
us a long while with big, wondering eyes. 

" My grandmother," she said, " shook hands with 
La Fayette when he was in America. And to-day 
I have brought my children with me so that they 
should meet representatives of the country that we 
love and admire, the country of La Fayette." 

As we kissed these dear little ones our hearts 
went out to the children of America, who looked 
upon us as bringing over to them some of the soul 
and spirit of what they knew was invincible France. 



244 



CHAPTER XX 

PUGET SOUND 

UNTIL we reached San Francisco we had 
the impression of being similar to two 
aerolites whirled through space at a tre- 
mendous rate, to be arrested, however, before com- 
plete annihilation. 

After this had been going on for some time we 
suddenly found ourselves compelled to ask for a 
week's rest, in order to " be fit " for carrying out 
the rest of the schedule. But the answer came 
from Washington that meetings were organized as 
far as Seattle on September 5, and could not be 
canceled. 

On getting this news my sister realized the abso- 
lute impossibility of our fulfilling the whole tour 
as planned if we ever wished our family to see us 
again in the flesh, and so she sent the following 
telegram to the Committee on Public Information : 

" My sister's strength not equal to holding out 
in spite of her willingness to do the work. In- 
capable of going on, although meetings reduced to 
two a day. Thoroughly exhausted and needs sev- 

245 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

eral weeks' rest. So sorry but must give up tour 
after Seattle. Sincerest regrets." 

And may we suggest here that much wasted en- 
ergy would be saved for speakers touring the States 
if in each city or town the meetings were limited 
to one or two big gatherings, which the members 
of all the various organizations of the locality 
should attend. 

We left California for Oregon, and after thirty- 
four hours of traveling reached Portland, the lovely 
city of roses, where among many other interesting 
experiences I addressed on the very evening of my 
arrival fifteen hundred workmen composing the 
night shift of the Smith, Grant, Porter Shipyard. 
It was truly a curious sight to see this crowd of 
enthusiastic laborers clustering around the wooden 
table on which I stood in the open air talking to 
them of what was going on six thousand miles 
away. The night was a moonless one, and our out- 
of-door gathering was lit by a few electric lamps, 
which cast fantastic shadows over the whole scene 
— a scene strange enough to tempt a painter to 
represent one of the unexj)ected side-lights of the 
war. 

The next day we motored to the famous Columbia 
Kiver Gorge and the Multnomah Falls, which are 
among the most beautiful sights in America. It 
was a very sunny day, and a small discussion arose 
as to whether we should drive there with the top of 

246 



Puget Sound 



the car up or down — a somewhat vexed problem 
to solve, when feminine and masculine wishes are 
at stake. 

" I have often told my son," a clever 1-ady in our 
party explained to us, " that when he has a girl 
to drive out whom he is particularly anxious to 
please, he should always be careful to consider the 
delicate question of putting the top down or up. 
Don't ask her, is my formula, but look at the skin 
of her neck and chest. If it is a beautiful ma- 
hogany color, don't hesitate ; put the top down ; she 
does not mind the sun and the wind. But if the 
skin is peerlessly white and immaculate, by all 
means put it up, and she will credit you with 
good looks, a clever brain, and charming man- 
ners.'' 

Seattle is another lovely city situated on the 
Puget Sound in most beautiful surroundings. 
From there passengers sail to Vancouver and 
thence to Alaska. Here we naturally heard many 
Alaskan stories and adventures, which thrilled us 
with delight. Stories about the discovery of gold 
in the Klondike, about the inhabitants of Nome and 
other towns shut in as they are for six months of 
the year by snow, with no communication with the 
rest of the world except through the couriers who 
travel there in sleds driven by the huskies so vividly 
described by Jack London. 

The inhabitants of Seattle never seem to be em- 

247 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

barrassed about carrying out even the most daring 
of schemes. 

" Seattle is built on a series of hills,'' we were 
informed by one of our charming cousins, who has 
settled there. " One of these particularly impeded 
our municipal traflSc, as the town spread out in all 
directions; so with the help of hydraulic machines 
we just sliced the hill right off, and sent it tumbling 
to the banks of the sound, producing in this way 
a piece of firm land on the shore, where shipyards 
have been built since the war.'' 

On the very day after our arrival we were given 
another proof of the irresistible force of water, 
which caused us to reflect on the instability of life 
in new countries. The three-story Russell Hotel 
and the personal effects of its seventy-nine occu- 
pants were totally destroyed by an automobile 
bumping into a street hydrant. 

One of the Seattle papers gave the following ac- 
count of how it had happened, and certainly acci- 
dents are often reproduced on films, to the great 
delight of the public, which are far less freakish 
than this one : 

The collapsing of the Russell was due to an automobile 
accident on the corner in front of it. The driver of a delivery 
truck for the Three Girls' Bakery attempted to avoid a colli- 
sion with another automobile, and swerved his machine sharply 
to one side. It struck the fire plug on the corner and snapped 
it off. A geyser of water shot into the air a distance of 

248 



Puget Sound 



seventy-five feet, spraying over a large number of persons 
who were passing at the time, and drenching them before they 
could clear out of its radius. A number of the windows in 
the Russell house were open, and the water poured through 
these. Several of the occupants were soaked through before 
they succeeded in closing the windows. The water from the 
broken plug settled in the hollow under the building, in a 
great pool and undermined its foundation. 

Every room in the house was occupied and most of the 
tenants were in their rooms when the building began to settle. 
A dozen policemen went to the door of each one of the 
forty-two rooms and notified the occupants to leave at once. 
When no response was received doors were broken open. 
Many of the roomers wanted to stop to gather up personal 
effects and in some instances the police were compelled to 
forcibly eject the occupant. The last of the tenants were 
out of the building but a few minutes, when the entire hotel 
collapsed with a roar that was heard for blocks. 

When we visited the scene of the accident we 
found that the wrecked hotel had dwindled into a 
small heap of wooden debris, and we wondered how 
in the world this frame building ever housed sev- 
enty-nine people. 

An original and unique way of helping his coun- 
try during the war was conceived by an American 
acrobat surname d the Human Fly, whom we saw 
in Seattle. This name was earned from the type 
of performance he gave, which consisted in attain- 
ing the roofs of the highest hotels, not by the usual 
means of the elevators, but by the uncommon way 
of climbing up the outside of the buildings. 

249 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

It was truly impressive to see this human fly 
crawling, so to speak, from stone to stone, from 
window to window, from floor to floor, growing 
smaller and smaller to the spectator's view until 
the living black spot reached the summit. Then 
when the dangerous task was accomplished cheers 
upon cheers arose from the delighted public, and 
contributions were enthusiastically rained in for 
the Red Cross. 

I was always " introduced '' to the public when- 
ever I spoke in America, and sometimes these " in- 
troductions " were a source of infinite amusement 
and interest to me, as they varied from the loftiest 
and most dignified style, to the most sentimental or 
confidential one. But in all cases they always were 
what introductions are supposed to be, extremely 
flattering, and I remember with a certain emotion 
the chairman of one of the organizations in a town 
on the Pacific coast, who was so carried away by 
his subject plus his enthusiasm, that he declared 
that there were at present five hundred thousand 
Joans of Arc in France, and that two of them had 
brought the message of " For the Right '' to Amer- 
ica, and then he turned towards my sister and my- 
self, bowing exquisitely. 

The only trait of resemblance I could possibly 
think of between our national heroine and myself is 
that I heard as she did a voice urging me to do my 
duty, but in my case it was only the voice of my 

250 



Puget Sound 



friend through the telephone sending me to Amer- 
ica. Whereas Joan, in the fields where she was 
keeping her sheep near her native village of Dom- 
remy in Lorraine, heard the Archangel Michael 
saying to her in sweet tones : " Fear not, Joan, 
thou hast been chosen by the King of Heaven to 
accomplish great deeds and restore happiness 
to France. Clothe thyself in man's attire, arm 
thyself, and thou shalt become the leader of the 
War." 

I can now imagine an Alaskan Joan of Arc list- 
ening to " The Call In the Wild " ; but instead of 
the mellow voice of the archangel, I suppose the 
message would be conveyed to her in the metallic 
trumpet sounds of a megaphone. 

" I bet this don't phase you, Jane ! Be a brick. 
Camouflage yourself as a Yank, quit my country, 
ride a tank, lead my ' Khaki Devils ' over the top, 
and lick the kaiser ! '' 

I trust my readers will approve of the up-to-date 
translation. 

Americans are such remarkably practical people 
that we spent our time marveling at their ingenuity. 
For instance, one of the Seattle papers, called the 
Times, originated a way of keeping the public 
constantly informed of the latest war news. A 
series of whistle signals were the means of con- 
veying the news. 

One Long Blast. Whistle at 11 :59 A. m. daily. 

251 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

Time ball about to drop, announcing it to be exactly 
noon. 

Two Long Blasts. At frequent intervals. Al- 
lied forces making new gains. 

Four Long Blasts. At frequent intervals. 
American forces are driving the Germans. 

Five Short Blasts. At frequent intervals. Ger- 
many sues for peace. 

In many towns of the United States one long 
blast was also heard at midday, announcing the 
noon meditation. And in Seattle as well as in 
Washington, D. C, I saw people stop suddenly and 
bow their heads in devotion, praying with all their 
hearts for the deliverance of the world and that 
victory be granted to the Allies. This spiritual 
movement in America was largely due to the Inter- 
national Association of Kotary Clubs, which is a 
democratic organization of business and profes- 
sional men numbering 39,000 members and pos- 
sessing 524 clubs. 

I do not doubt that these heartfelt prayers con- 
tributed enormously toward the triumph of the 
forces of good, because I believe that no words were 
ever more true than those of Christ when He said, 
" Ask and it shall be given you." 

Before we left Seattle we visited a wonderful 
ranch, where the breeding of cattle is carried out 
on a large scale. 

The cows on this ranch are said to be happy 

252 



Puget Soii/nd 



cowkS, and therefore they give better and more milk 
than discontented ones. They are treated like 
princesses in fairy tales, get the best of food, con- 
sisting partly of alfalfa-grass, are massaged and 
shower-bathed, and are never allowed to get wet 
feet. Their guardians are sympathetic young men 
with gentle dispositions, who whisper sweet things 
into their ears whilst they are being milked, and 
who tend them with as much care as delicate babies. 
We were specially filled with admiration at the 
results of such good treatment. One of these con- 
tented and pedigreed cows, called Adventuress Ca- 
nary ( they nearly all have most honorable and gen- 
erally prize parents), gave out as much as 409.7 
quarts of milk in seven days, or 58.5 quarts per day. 
As we left the barn my sister whispered to me: 
" Americans really have quaint ideas ! If I had 
a well-intentioned cow who actually gave out daily 
an ocean of milk for me like this one does, I 
wouldn't spoil her reputation by calling her ^ Ad- 
venturess Canary,' unless this name can be satis- 
factorily explained in the pedigree book ! '' 



253 



Y 



CHAPTER XXI 

VERS LA FRANCE 

"X 7"ELL0WST0NE PARK is only a two-days' 
journey from here, and you cannot 'leave 
America without going to see that mar- 
vellous place/' said our Seattle cousins. 

After all, what were distances for us now that 
we had already covered so many miles, and if we 
did not go we should always regret having missed 
the opportunity. So we left for Livingston, from 
which place we were to get a train for Gardiner, 
one of the entrances to the park. 

Livingston is a little town of 2,800 inhabitants, 
where we arrived unknown, the first time such a 
thing had happened to us since landing in the 
States. So we spent the night hoping to " take 
things easy,'^ as our train did not leave until 9 :30 
the next morning. 

But alas! it seems one can never live in peace, 
for we were awakened as usual by the telephone 
in the early morning, and my sister had to attend 
to it. 

" Hello ! " I heard her say, and then she turned 
around with an amused expression. " Six o'clock ! 

254 



Vers La France 



That is what I have just been told. The porter 
has certainly wakened up the wrong people, for we 
had never asked to be called at this early hour.'' 

This made us think of the story of the man who 
on getting into a train at night said to the porter : 

" Wake me up to-morrow morning at five o'clock 

in time to get out at X . I warn you that I 

sleep veiy soundly and only wake with a struggle. 
I will probably swear and kick and be in a fury, 
but don't mind, simply turn me out on the platform, 
and you '11 get a good tip." 

Next morning the traveler woke up without being 
called, and on looking at his watch discovered that 
it was seven o'clock. His rage was great on real- 
izing that he had missed the town where very im- 
portant business was awaiting him. Kushing up 
to the porter he shook him by the shoulder, using 
the worst of language. 

The porter looked at him impassively, and when 
his rage was over, said calmly : 

" Well, man, you 're some swearer, but you 're 
nothing like the man I turned out at X ! " 

When later we went down to pay our hotel bill 
they would not take a check, and we had to part 
with nearly all our change. Rather worried and 
wondering what we should do in the park if they, 
too, refused our checks, we set out for the station to 
find the train already there and that we had but 
six minutes before its departure. So we asked 

255 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

whether there was a bank near, and when we were 
informed that it was at the end of the street, we 
left our hand-luggage on the platform, rushed out 
of the station, and ran to the building. 

" Have you got any papers, a letter, an envelop 
addressed in your name, or a visiting-card, proving 
your identity? " asked the cashier. 

We had left everything at the station, and had 
certainly not sufficient time to run back to fetch 
the required papers. Notwithstanding this lack 
of proof, that most obliging of bankers cashed our 
check, and even the train had most courteously 
waited for us, which caused it to leave one minute 
late. 

On descending from the train at our destination, 
we found a touring-car in which we took place with 
other passengers, and which drove us to " Mammoth 
Hot Springs," where we spent the first night. On 
account of the wa'r the hotels had not been opened, 
in order to economize fuel, and so we lived in 
tents, which were comfortably organized, some be- 
ing for two people, and others, smaller, for a single 
person. 

The guests were waited on by young university 
people, who found in this way a remunerative 
means of visiting the park and spending their holi- 
days out of town. 

On the second day we were taken to Old Faithful 
Camp, where we also spent a night. It gets its 

256 



Vers La France 



name from one of the geysers, which since the dis- 
covery of the park by the Washburne Expedition 
and probably during centuries before has regularly 
shot its waters up into the air 170 feet high every 
sixty-five minutes, without ever disappointing the 
tourist. 

What if Old Faithful were one day unfaithful, 
and missed one or two of his shows ; what publicity 
he would make for himself, and how specially in- 
teresting he would become. But, alas ! one is sure 
of him, and watch in hand, one waits for his punc- 
tual performance. 

Besides that geyser there are hundreds of others 
to be seen; some are active every day; others, like 
the Giant, at intervals of nearly a fortnight or, 
like the Lioness, only once every two years. One 
of them, the Excelsior, is the lazy one of the com- 
pany, and has not performed since 1888; but what 
a show! It would rise to nearly 300 feet for a 
duration of half an hour. 

One of our American friends, who is a remark- 
able ventriloquist, told me that when he was visit- 
ing Yellowstone Park lately he remembered the 
story of some unfortunate lady who nine years 
ago fell into one of the boiling wells, as she im- 
prudently was walking backward in order to get 
a better view of " Castle Cone,'' in eruption at 
that moment. 

My friend, after having narrated this tragic inci- 

257 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

dent to the tourists who were visiting the park with 
him, walked to the edge of the pool where the body 
of the victim had disappeared, never to be seen 
again, and in an authoritative voice asked : 

"Are you there, Madam? If you are, I conjure 
you to speak to us ! " 

A few seconds elapsed, and suddenly from the 
very depths of the earth a feeble voice answered: 

" Yes, I am here, alone for nine years and bored 
to death. Thank you for remembering me ! " 

The tourists were seized with terror! 

The great thrill of the journey is to live among 
the wild bears that wander in perfect liberty in 
the park. It is on the third day that one gets 
a vague idea of the feeling of the tamer when left 
face to face with wild beasts. Our first precaution 
was to inquire whether the bears were dangerous; 
to this they answered: 

" Oh, no ! Only when they are hungry ! " 

" But do they let you know when they are about 
to feel like that? '' was our natural question. . . . 

So after all, here we were five thousand miles 
away from our parents, taking our first pleasure 
trip in the States, and risking another danger equal 
to that of the submarines, with the difference that 
our people at home were unaware of this new proof 
of our courage. 

Before retiring to our tent, we were shown a 
neighboring one, torn to pieces the previous night 

258 



Vers La France 



by a huge bear who had evidently missed a meal. 
The innocent inhabitant of this tent had left a few 
chocolates on her table, and the bear, attracted by 
the smell of the delicious sweets, simply tore down 
the whole place, and in a twinkling the chocolates 
disappeared. The lady herself, luckily, was away 
at that sensational moment. 

We were kindly shown this disastrous sight as a 
forewarning, and it made us think how happy pas- 
sengers are to be spared the sight of a torpedoed 
vessel before crossing the Atlantic. 

However, that night fraught with danger was 
spent without any incident, and we considered our- 
selves lucky at being out of the way of the reporters, 
who would once more have written up about the 
unfortunate French ladies, who had "systemat- 
ically missed all the dangers of Yellowstone Park.'' 
On leaving our tent we met a lady whose dress 
sleeve had been torn off as the result of her kind- 
heartedness toward a bear she had tried to feed 
with candy. He took the sweet, but made an effort 
to get a little extra nourishment by appropriating 
a part of the arm that held it out to him. 

Later in the afternoon my sister and I strolled 
out for a walk to the canon, and as we were quietly 
walking along and enjoying the peacefulness of the 
scene, a huge black bear suddenly appeared, stand- 
ing still in the middle of the road and gazing at 
us with tremendous eyes. 

259 



A Frenchwoman s Impressions of America 

" Is he hungry and looking for food? " was our 
exclamation. 

Then unable to get any answer we turned rapidly 
away and fled for our lives. 

After our five-days' holiday at Yellowstone Park 
we went directly to Philadelphia, to stay with 
cousins of ours whom we dearlv love and with 
whom we knew we would be able to enjoy a thor- 
ough rest. 

Our journey back lasted three days, and one 
morning in the dining-car as we were lunching, we 
found ourselves seated at a table with an old lady 
and her unmarried, middle-aged daughter, what 
we in France call " an advanced young girl." They 
both seemed to be unusually excited, and the old 
lady felt compelled to speak to us. 

" I must tell you, we are so thrilled by a young 
woman sitting in our car, who has just volunteered 
in the Y. M. C. A. to go to France and sing for 
the soldiers." 

" Yes," added the daughter, '' in order to go and 
sing to our boys she leaves at home her two small 
babies and her crippled mother. Is n't this simply 
splendid?" 

" How very interesting ! " were the only words 
we found to reply to our enthusiastic neighbors, 
and our thoughts went out to the poor babies and 
the invalid mother remaining helplessly at home, 
without the one who was probably the sunshine 

260 



Vers La France 



and happiness of their lives. And once more we 
realized that the daily accomplishment of what may 
be called a dull and tedious duty may certainly 
be more deserving and harder to accomplish than 
the more exciting deeds that bring upon one the 
praise and admiration of the public. 

We did not mention a word of our own experi- 
ences " over there/- as we felt that these two pa- 
triotic and enthusiastic American women would 
evidently not have let us part without having had 
a veiy long and detailed conversation, which we 
certainly no longer had the strength to endure. 

So it was after our non-enthusiastic response 
and upon hearing us speak a foreign language that 
was none other than French, we heard the spinster 
say to her mother, with a suspicious glance in her 
eye: 

" I think they 're German. They 're speaking in 
German ! '' 

We had luckily ended our meal, and rushed back 
to our seats, into which we dropped, shrieking with 
laughter. 

In Philadelphia we found that influenza was 
spreading its deathly germs over the city, and the 
people seemed rather frightened at its terrible 
effects. Nevertheless, it was nothing to compare 
with the death-rate in Washington, where churches, 
theaters, moving-picture shows were closed to avoid 
contagion. 

261 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

In the streets we saw several women going about 
with gauze masks covering their faces. Coughing 
was prohibited, contact with sneezers was to be 
absolutely avoided, and if you were caught doing 
any such terrible things, you were looked upon 
as dangerous, and would have more backs than 
faces to contemplate. 

People were dying like flies, and as the doctors 
and nurses had left for France in great numbers, 
the civilian population could not get proper care. 
The mortality was such that the dead could not be 
properly buried, owing to the lack of coffins and, 
also, to the insufficient number of undertakers. 

I remember talking on this subject to one of 
the members of the French High Commission, who 
told us that three weeks previously he had sold 
one of his horses to a public undertaker in Wash- 
ington, who had then said to him : 

" I have not got the means of paying you now 
in cash," and so other arrangements had been 
made. 

" Since this morning," said our friend, " I am 
in possession of a check amounting to the total 
price of the horse." 

The public undertaker had evidently never be- 
fore been kept so busy, and was doing wonderful 
business. And so one can once more say that " 111 
blows the wind which profits nobody." 

It was in Washington, quite at the end of our 

262 



Vers La France 



stay in America, that we noticed for the first time 
one of the novel fads much in honor there. 

We happened to meet a friend who had his face 
all bandaged up, and we immediately inquired 
with solicitude about his health. 

" Oh, I have spent several days at a remarkable 
dentist's,'' he replied. " He has unburdened me 
of all my teeth.'' 

"Why?" we asked in astonishment. "Were 
they, then, in such a bad condition? " 

" On the contrary," he answered, " they were 
perfectly healthy, but I am told that this treat- 
ment will cure me of my rheumatism." 

And when we inquired from other friends about 
this strange cure, we learned that " unburdened 
jaws " for rheumatismal cures were by no means 
infrequent. 

We had noticed how many lovely American 
women " unburden " their eyebrows, which is, after 
all, a very becoming fashion, makes the eye appear 
larger and gives more height to its setting, but 
we could not be made to believe that having one's 
teeth pulled out ever would be as esthetic a fad 
as the other one, even if it preserved the toothless 
ones from rheumatism. 

Before leaving Washington we asked to be pre- 
sented to Mrs. Wilson, and our Ambassadress took 
us personally, with a cousin of ours, widow of a 
former American Ambassador to London and Sec- 

263 



A Frenchwoman' s Impressions of America 

retary of State, to pay our visit at the White House, 
where we were received by the President's wife with 
a simplicity not devoid of grandeur. 

Mrs. Wilson was attired in a lovely gray char- 
meuse dress, and her beauty, her charm of manners, 
perhaps, also, her winsome smile, and fascinating, 
communicative laugh, contributed to win our 
hearts instantaneously. She kindly inquired about 
our impressions of the United States, and we were 
happy to tell her all about the touching manifesta- 
tions toward our dear, beloved country, and also 
how in many towns we had been received as if 
France itself had come over to greet America. 

A farewell dinner was given for us at the French 
Embassy, and at the French High Commission, 
and a few days later, at the end of October, we 
sailed from New York on the RochambeaUy with 
Miss Wilson, who was giving her talent to the 
service of a patriotic cause, and going to France 
to sing in the camps. 

It was with true emotion that we saw the giant 
sky-scrapers disappear beyond the horizon, and a 
feeling almost of sadness crept over us as we left 
these hospitable shores where we had had the privi- 
lege of living wonderful hours. 

After six-months' sojourn in the States we can 
affirm that we sincerely love the American nation. 
It was with that feeling in our hearts that we went 

264 



Vers La France 



over, and we hope we may have helped, though but 
in a small measure, to strengthen the bond of 
friendship and of love that must forever unite these 
two sister nations. 

It is to La Fayette Americans and French are in- 
debted for the extraordinary support his noble 
deeds of the past gave in counteracting the pro- 
German campaign, and setting forth the cause of 
the Allies. 

La Fayette had fought to help the United States 
to gain her independence, and the memory of his 
deeds awakened in the Americans the same gener- 
ous impulse that had prompted those actions, and 
it also aroused their sympathy for the oppressed 
nations struggling to reconquer their own inde- 
pendence. Such was the spirit that animated the 
people of the United States when, side by side with 
the Allies, they fought for the sublime ideal of 
winning liberty for the whole world. 

Our voyage lasted a fortnight, and once more 
it was accomplished " without even a peek of a 
submarine ! " I will always keep in memory the 
last day of our crossing, as we stood on the gang- 
way and gazed at a quite unforgetable sight. Be- 
low us on the steerage deck were gathered the eight 
hundred American warriors the Rochamheau was 
bearing in her flanks, all khaki-clad, and with the 
new life-belt, which is slipped over the head and 

265 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

adjusted like a waistcoat. It has a padded collaret, 
as if it were a democratic reminiscence of the 
Renaissance costume. 

In their midst stood Miss Wilson in her Y. M. C. 
A. uniform, with her two traveling companions at 

her side, one of them, Mr. X , singing with her, 

and his wife accompanying the artists on a minia- 
ture piano. The notes of the beautiful melodies 
rang out clearly through the bright and serene 
atmosphere; on the sea scarcely a ripple ruffled 
the smooth surface. Then I heard Miss Wilson's 
melodious voice calling to the soldiers: 

" Boys ! Let's all sing * There's a Long Long 
Trail.' " 

And as hundreds of voices broke forth, singing 
the old war song, throwing out over the wide ocean 
the inspiring words, we suddenly caught a glimpse 
of land, just a darker line on the horizon, rising im- 
perceptibly into the sky as we approached. One 
word arose to our lips, which we repeated over and 
over again, as if each time it made the atmosphere 
around us grow more lovable and exquisite. 

" France ! France ! " w^e all cried. 

That night we reached the entrance to the Gi- 
ronde River, where a special envoy from General 
Pershing came on deck to greet Miss Wilson. His 
whole countenance radiated a joy that was the 
herald of good news, and as he approached the 
little group where we stood with the President's 
(^ 266 



d^ii 1>-1 07 



Vers La France 



daughter, gazing into the clear night, and watching 
the bright stars overhead, he brought his heels to- 
gether with a sharp click and made the military 
salute. 

" Welcome to France ! " he said with a glad ring 
in his voice. And then, very slowly, as if the better 
to make us realize the importance of the news of 
which he was the messenger, he announced, " In 
three days the armistice will be signed ! '^ 

And suddenly into my mind came Longfellow's 
poem, the words then seeming to me almost pro- 
phetic : 

A wind came up out of the sea, 

And said, " mists, make room for me." 

It hailed the ships and cried, " Sail on, 
Ye mariners, the night is gone." 

And hurried landward far away, 
Crying, " Awake ! it is the day." 

It said unto the forest, " Shout ! 
Hang all your leafy banners out ! " 

It touched the wood-bird's folded wing, 
And said, " bird, awake and sing." 

And o'er the farms, " chanticleer. 
Your clarion blow; the day is near." 

It whispered to the fields of corn, 

" Bow down, and hail the coming mom." 

267 



A Frenchwoman's Impressions of America 

It shouted through the belfry-tower, 
" Awake, bell ! proclaim the hour." 

It crossed the churchyard with a sigh, 
And said, " Not yet ! in quiet lie." 



THE END 



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